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THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 



noiri(Tov S' a'iGpr)v^ Sbg ^* 6:p9a\no'i<Tiv iSiaQai' 
Kv de (pan Kai oXtncrov^ lird vv Toi tvaSev ovTiog. 

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Engra-vEd.ljrSAiilar4.from.a.PlDtograDliTy J & C WatMns , PaitiBment S* 




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London Longmans & C° 



HAWAII: 

THE PAST, PEESENT, AND FUTURE OF 
ITS ISLAND - KINGDOM. 

AN HISTOEICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS (POLYNESIA). 



BY 



MANLEY HOPKINS 

n 

HAWAIL\H CONSUL-GENEBAIi 
ETC. 



WITH A PREFACE BY THE BISHOP OF OXFORD, 




Cascade m the Waial-aa Valley. 



SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND CONTINUED. 



~^ 



X 



NEW YOEK: 
D. APPLETON AND CO., GRAND STEEET. 

1869. 



/ 3"/^ 



TO THE 



RIGHT HONOURABLE 



JOHN EAEL EUSSELL, K.G. 



FIRST LORD OP THE TREASURY &c. 



THESE PAGES ABB 



(with his i^ordship's permission) 



GRATEFULLY DEDICATED. 



^f 



AUTHOE'S PEEFACE 



TO 



THE SECOND EDITION. 



I ENDEAVOURED in my volume on Hawaii, to give 
a short but clear account of the state and history of 
that kingdom. Since completing its pages, three years 
ago, the march of events there has been rapid and 
important. The extreme interest awakened in this 
country by the visit to England of the young and 
widowed Queen of Hawaii has called fresh attention to 
the islands; and the telescope has been, as it were, 
frequently turned towards their distant and faintly- 
shining cluster, as if endeavouring to separate it into 
its constituent and many-coloured spheres. It has, 
consequently, been thought desirable to re-edit my 
work, bringing the history down to the present time. 
In a series of five new chapters I have described the 
blow which fell upon Hawaii by the death of its young 
Prince Koyal ; the yet heavier grief of the people when 
their beloved sovereign prematurely died, at the close 
of 1863; the installation and progress of the English 



viii author's preface to 

mission for planting a scion of the Reformed Episcopal 
Church in the North Pacific ; the change in the Consti- 
tution effected by the present sovereign — which some 
have named the Gowp d'Etat ; and lastly, I have given 
a sketch of the life and important services of Robert 
Crichton Wyllie, whose death has lately taken place in 

the islands. 

On the appearance of my book a few angry com- 
ments were made on it, chiefly by or on account of the 
American missionaries. What I wrote, I strove to write 
impartially, without malice and without fear. One 
lady of American birth, but long resident in the islands, 
eminent in literature as in other walks of life, has 
suggested in print, that two gentlemen should set out 
from Honolulu to Europe, for the purpose of castigating 
— not my history, but myself. Such a step would seem 
a very laborious means for effecting a very small object. 
Should these correctors of the press arrive, they would 
perhaps find me different from what they had been led 
to suppose, and not the enemy or detractor of that 
great nation which is ' bone of our bone, and flesh of 
our flesh,' whose late agony of internal conflict we 
watched so sorrowfully. A closer acquaintance might 
elicit that English and American hearts beat more in 
unison than they even themselves suspect; and it is 
possible that ere our parting, we three might be found 
kneeling together in prayer to the Common Father, 
that He would, by all means, send out the light and 



THE SECOND EDITION. IX 

grace and truth of His Gospel into every dark corner of 
earth and ocean, and cause it to shine abundantly not 
only on Hawaii, but on ' the regions beyond.' 

In the spirit of conciliation I have in this edition 
withdrawn the sketch of a person who played a con- 
siderable part in the earlier history of the country; 
because I find that the attached friends of the late 
Mr. Richards supposed that the drawing— which was a 
sketch from recollection only, and somewhat altered in 
engraving— was intentionally a caricature, a thing 
which was not meant. 

I have enriched the present volume with a few ex- 
tracts which I have been permitted to make from the 
letters and journals of Archdeacon and Mrs. Mason. 

I have added an important summary of the commerce 
of Hawaii, and an able statement concerning the trade 
and producing powers of the islands drawn up by 
W. W. Follett Synge, Esq., late British Commissioner 
and Consul-General in Hawaii, now our Consul- 
General in Havana and Judge of the Court of Mixed 
Commissions. 

Some fresh works touching, in part or entirely, on the 
islands have come into my hands ; of which the most 
important is the brochure published in Boston, by the 
Eev. Dr. Rufus Anderson, of which some mention will 
be found in these pages. 

In my chapter on the English Church Mission, I 
have endeavoured to correct several misconceptions 



X author's preface to the second edition. 

about it which have obtained cuiTency in England, 
America, and elsewhere. 

Whilst re-editing a work which deals with a state of 
things existing four years previously, I have been un- 
able altogether to avoid some literary inconsistency. 
In reproducing generally my former volume, it was 
necessary to correct some figures to the present time, 
and, in places, to complete the history of transactions 
which were then in progress. A few paragraphs, there- 
fore, belong to two periods. I can only ask indulgence 
for a defect which is almost unavoidable. 

I have to thank the press for the cordial and grati- 
fying manner in which they noticed my former volume, 
and made it known to the public. With a painful 
consciousness of all its shortcomings, I commend the 
present work to the attentive consideration of my 
readers. 

The excellent likeness of Her Majesty Queen Emma 
of Hawaii is engraved by Mr. Adlard after a photograph 
by Messrs. John and Charles Watkins, of Parliament 

Street. , 

M. H. 

A^pril 1866. 



PREFACE. 



— K>^ 



TT is not much that need be said by way of preface to 
-■- this volume. Few will begin to read it who will 
not soon find that it is not a book to be laid down when 
it has been commenced. It is, indeed, a notable record 
of a very peculiar form of our common humanity. The 
character of the Sandwich Islanders is, in many respects, 
one of those clearly marked developments of national 
life on which we always gaze with peculiar interest, 
from the distinctness with which we trace the lines of 
dissimilarity to ourselves, even whilst we feel every- 
where present the great underlying basis of our essential 
brotherhood. 

There is about these islanders a remarkable union of 
the attractiveness of childhood with the strength of 
maturity. And this union of diverse elements in their 
nature has embodied itself strikingly in their institu- 
tions, and fixed itself in their history. In this they 
greatly resemble the Coral Islands of their own seas. 



xii PREFACE. 

which combine in such picturesque unity the conditions 
of freshness and perfection. But as yesterday, the 
secret labours of a million of animalculse deposited that 
coral reef to chafe the blue waters, and let them sleep 
in the still lagoon. Then some volcanic eruption cast 
up far above the ocean plain the mountain which startles 
the eye with its. abrupt suddenness of elevation — and, 
now, the palm-tree, and the cocoa-nut, and the sandal- 
wood, and all the prodigality of tropical nature, are 
clothing every spot of the well-watered island with 
fertility and grace. 

This volume will conduct the reader through the 

great national changes which, in our own age, have 

passed over the critical youth of this people. Some of 

its scenes can hardly be equalled elsewhere. The rapid 

development of true principles of commerce ; the 

struggle for independence ; the passage from barbarity 

to a great degree of refinement ; the ripening of such a 

character as that of the present King — all of these are 

transacted with a strange singularity of event, in the 

most glowing colours before our eyes. But perhaps of 

all others the religious history of the people is the 

strangest. The sudden abandonment of their whole 

heathen mythology — not for the verities of a sounder 

faith, but from very weariness of the intolerable and 

degrading burthen of heathendom itself, — and the entire 

destruction of their idols, stand almost alone in the 

history of man. Most strange is it to contrast this witli 



PREFACE. Xlil 



the long remaining fears of their old idols and love for 
their old idolatry, which in the apostolic epistles we 
trace as clinging to and haunting the earliest converts 
to Christianity. It is not a little remarkable, too, that 
in this sudden and entire deliverance of the people from 
the meshes of their old superstition, the leading instru- 
ment should be a woman — a Queen-mother, strengthen- 
ing the halting hands of the young and trembling king, 
to break the bondage under which he groaned, but 
before the threats of which he quailed. 

Nor is this the only instance of the sort. It would 
be difficult to find in any history the record of a nobler 
act of faithful courage than that of the descent of 
another noble woman into the very crater of the vol- 
cano, in order to convince lier countrymen that they 
might fearlessly brave the supposed deadly indignation 
of the evil god to whom tradition had assigned the 
crater as a home, and of whose wrath it had taught the 
islanders to believe that the destroying eruptions were 
the manifested consequence. 

All of this, moreover, has at this time a special in- 
terest for us. The Royal Family of those islands have 
long sought to cultivate an English alliance; but it 
has been reserved for the present enlightened king to 
seek it in the way in which it can be most certainly 
secured— by planting among his people, with all the 
advantages which can be derived from his own adhesion 
to it, a branch of our Reformed Church. At his desire. 



xiv PREFACE, 

and with the concurrence of our Queen, a Bishop of 
our nation has been consecrated at Lambeth, to bear 
the precious seed to the distant island of his adoption. 
To him is to be committed the training of the future 
heir to the throne. For the Bishop's coming the public 
reception of the young prince into the Church has been 
postponed ; whilst to mark our gracious Queen's interest 
in the movement, she, even in this day of her sorrow, 
has consented to be sponsor to the royal youth, and 
sends out sponsorial gifts befitting England's Queen, as 
pledges of the reality of her interest in the religious 
act in which, though absent, she is to partake. 

May it please Grod greatly to bless and prosper this 
new undertaking of our Sovereign and her nation's 
church. In venturing on it we are but paying the debt 
which in virtue of our own Christianity and our own 
national prosperity we owe to less favoured tribes of 
men. It is surely specially appropriate that such gifts 
as these,— the high gifts of the doctrine and perfect 
organization of the Church of Christ, which have built 
up her own liberties and greatness, should be imparted 
by the Ocean Queen to her sister islands. Our relation, 
too, to New Zealand adds greatly to the interest of this 
undertaking. From the New Zealand church, our own 
Bishop Patteson— c^arum et venerahile nomen—is 
making his way of blessing northward through the 
Melanesian group. Southward, on his way of bene- 
diction, may the Bishop of Honolulu speed, until the 



PREFACE. XV 

two advancing currents of the living waters of the 
living G-ospel of our Lord knit in one long grasp the 
hands of the two Island-Prelates ; and they kneel to- 
gether on the shore of some jointly-conquered island, 
^ to exclaim in grateful adoration. This hath GtOd done ! 

S. OXON. 

CuDDESDON Palace: 
May 24, 1862. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

TO 

THE FIEST EDITION, 



-•o«- 



TT/^HEN a native of Tahiti was shown a map of the 
world, he convicted the geographer of jealousy 
and untruth in having made Tahiti so small, and other 
parts of the earth so disproportionately large. 

I have to apologise to a world in which there is 
ah-eady a greater number of writers than readers, for 
adding one more volume to the printed burthen it 
sustains;— a book, too, about a very small and very 
distant nation. I feel that in taking this responsibility 
I have the pubKc nausea audiendi against me. 

Those, however, who are still left with time enough 
to go through a new book, will perhaps find something 
to interest them in the history, or, as I may venture to 
call it, the biography of a nation, so circumscribed that 
the story from its pre-historic period to the present 
time embraces scarcely more than eighty years ; and 
relating to an island group so far removed from us in 
space, that it affects our vision only like ' some bright 



a 



xviu 



author's preface to 



particular star.' It is even hoped that something useful 
may be learned from such a recital, in which we have 
before us the life of a community, its efforts, its errors, 
its failures, its escapes, its repentances ; its vivacious 
childhood, its noon-day struggles, and-must we add? 
—its instructed but premature decay. If such ex- 
amples afford no lesson, we are compelled to arrive at 
Coleridge's melancholy conclusion, that experience is 
like the stern-lights of a vessel, which only illumine 

the track that it passed. 

A book of this kind must necessarily be to a consider- 
able extent a compilation. I have, consequently, made 
the fullest use of what writings exist on the subject of 
the Sandwich Islands, either in a separate form or in- 
cluded in volumes of voyages. The industrious and 
well-arranged history of Mr. James Jackson Jarves 
(Honolulu, 1847) has been of the greatest service to 
me in transactions previous to that date. A little cir- 
cumspection is, of course, required in accepting the 
views of an American citizen on points wherein other 
■ nations are concerned; and as a corrective,! had before 
me Mr. A. Simpson's pamphlet entitled, ' Progress of 
Events,' which deals with a very important period of 
Hawaiian history, the cession of the islands to this 
country, through Lord George Paulet, in 1843 ; Mr. 
Simpson, who took a leading part in that transaction, 
being very much opposed to the Americans, the mis- 
sionaries, and, as far as I can judge, to everybody. 



THE FIRST EDITION. xix 

I have consulted the Rev. S. Dibble's History (La- 
hainala, in 1843) in which is embodied the information 
derived directly from the native pupils at the Grovern- 
ment Seminary, Lahaina. 

I have found useful information scattered throuo-h 
the volumes on the Sandwich Islands by Mr. Cheever, 
Mr. Hill, and some other travellers. 

Sir Greorge Simpson's ' Overland Journey round the 
World ' contains some chapters devoted to the Hawaiian 
Archipelago. The views of that acute observer relative 
to the then and the future condition of the islands are 
important and enlightened. Sir George sent me his 
M.S. to see through the press, and I published it, in 
two volumes, with the late Mr. Colburn, in 1847. The 
arrival in England during the progress of my work, of 
my brother, after a residence in Hawaii of sixteen years, 
was very opportune. His emendations have been valu- 
able, and I have embodied in my pages some original 
information he has given me on subjects of which they 
treat. His office of Director of the Government Press 
at Honolulu, and, latterly, the part which he has him- 
self taken in public affairs, as a member of the House 
of Nobles, qualify him to speak with distinctness, as he 
has been able to observe from a central point of view. 

The archives of my own office and the official and 
unofficial communications I constantly receive from the 
islands enable me to give statistical and other informa- 
tion down to the latest date. 

a 2 



XX author's preface to 

The Eev. William Ellis, author of ' Polynesian Re- 
searches/ 'A Jonrney through Hawaii, and a more 
recent work on Madagascar, to which island he has just 
returned, very kindly sent me his most interesting 
Narrative, published in the year 1825. It is a sort of 
text-booK, to all subsequent writers, of the earliest 
history of the islands, their traditions and old customs, 
collected by Dibble and the first American missionaries, 
assisted by the natives themselves. Though a dissenter 
from the Church of England, Mr. Ellis's large and 
liberal mind shows itself in every line of his writing, 
and in the personal intercourse with which he obliged 
me. I have to thank the London Missionary Society 
for supplying me with the Reports of the Boston Board 
of Foreign Missions ; and I own my obligations to the 
Hon. Hudson's Bay Company for permitting me to read 
in their library the early editions of oceanic explorers. 

I have not, of course, omitted to examine the splendid 
volumes of the United States Exploring Expedition, 
commanded by Commodore Wilkes,— an officer whose 
reputation will depend more on the scientific than the 
belligerent part of his profession. 

For earlier events I have also gleaned from the 
agreeable pages of my friend the late Admiral Beechey, 
in his interesting 'Narrative of the Voyage of the 

" Blossom." ' 

After such preparations, my book will appear but a 
slight sketch of the subject on which it treats. It was 



THE FIRST EDITION. Xxi 

intended for nothing more. Its design is to give a 
popular but connected account of an interesting and 
imperfectly known group of islands, which have had, 
during eight decades, an association with our own 
country, unusually close and frequent for so small and 
distant a nation. If one word may be permitted as to 
the execution of my task, I have to own, and that with 
regret, that owing to the unceasing nature of other 
occupations, I have not been able to expend on my book 
so much of the labor limce as a writer would desire for 
his own satisfaction, or the public would have a right 
to expect in every printed work which solicits its 
notice. 

London: Ma^ 1862. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Geographical Position and Origin— Haebours . /""l 



CHAPTER II. 

Physical Features and Phenomena— Volcanoes 



CHAPTER IV. 

Our Royal City oe Honolulu 



PAGE 



. 12 



CHAPTER III. 
Climate— Productions— Commerce 31 



46 



CHAPTER V. 

Derivation of the Hawaiian Race -Traditions oe . 60 

CHAPTER VI. 

Early Island Discoyerles— Native History- Cook's 
FIRST Arrival ... oo 

• * . oo 

CHAPTER Vll. 
The Tragedy in Kealakeakua Bay . . . .95 



^^|y CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

The Seqtjel of Cook's Death— Stjbseqtjent Visits . HI 

CHAPTER IX. 

Historical Sketch-^ A Dust oe Ststems'-<The Lonely ^^^ 
One' . . 

• CHAPTER X. 

» 

HISTOBICAL SKETCH-KAM^HAMfiHA THE CoNQUEEOB-In- ^^^ 
EPTNESS EOR THE LyRE 

CHAPTER XI. 

HISTOBICAL SKETCH-I^M^HAMfiHA THE KiNG-HlS DeATH 

—' I COME TO BTJBY C^SAB, and TO PBAISE HIM . . lt)C» 

CHAPTER XII. 

HISTOBICAL Sketch-Accession oe Liholiho-The Abo- ^^^ 

LITION OE IdOLATBY 

CHAPTER XIII. 

HISTOBICAL Sketch-Abbiyal OE Amebican Missionabies 
—The Visit oe the King and Queen to England, ^^^ 

AND THEIB DeATH 

CHAPTER XIV. 

HISTOBICAL Sketch -The Bbook becomes a Stbeam- 
An Apostolic Pbeeect abbiyes-The Abgonauts , 2U 

CHAPTER XV. 

HISTOBICAL Sketch-The Stbeam becomes a Riyer- 
Reign oe KamIihameha III. ..•••• 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Historical Sketch-The eirst French Tribulation . 244 



CONTENTS. XXV 

CHAPTER XVII. 

PAGE 

Historical Sketch — Essays ik Constitution-making . 259 

CHAPTER XVin. 

Historical Sketch — The Carysfort Affair . . . 280 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Historical Sketch — The Envoys Extraordinary — The 
Belgian Contract . " . . . . . . . 298 

CHAPTER XX. 

Historical Sketch — The Treaties of Commerce and 
Friendship, and consequent Hostilities . . . 312 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Historical Sketch — Reign of KAMiHAM^HA IV. . . 328 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Hawahan Characteristics 348 

CHAPTER XXin. 
The Depopulation of the Islands — Kibroth-Hataava 367 

CHAPTER XXrV. 
Missionary Achieyement and Failure '. . . . 381 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Glances ax the Past and Guesses at the Future . 399 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Kaueleo-ka-lani — 'The Flight of the Chief' . . 420 

b 



XXvi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XX\^I. 

PAGE 

Beoken-heaeted 428 

CHAPTER XXVIH. 
The Wild Oliye-teee 450 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Accession op KAMEHAMiisA V.— The ^Cotjp D'Etat' . 476 

CHAPTER XXX. 
RoBEET Ceichton Wxllie . . . . • • 497 

APPENDIX. 
CoEAL Islands • • ^1^ 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



-•o^ 



Portrait of Emma, Queen Dowager of Hawaii To face Title-'page 

(From a Photograph. Engraved by Adlard, after a Photograph by Watkins. ) 

Map To face page 1 

Cascade in the Waialtja Vaxley ( Vignette in Title-page) W. J. Linton 

(Drawn on Wood by Miss C. Lane.) 

Crater of Kjxauea . . (6^. Pearson) 
The Harbour, Honolulu . „ 

Entrance of the Nuuanu Valley, Honolulu 
EwA, from Honolulu . . {Q. Pearson) 
Portrait of King Kamehameha IV. , 
Proposed Church at Honolulu ( G. Pearson) 

(Designed by W. Slater.) 

Diamond Head, Honolulu . {G.Pearson) . To face page 380 



To face 'page 


12 


}> 


46 


5> 


59 


»> 


170 


»> 


328 


. page 


347 



't- 




Ea.-w''-"Weller, 



'AEM 



-*<>•- 



CHAPTER I. 

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND OEIGIN— HARBOURS. 

TO the imagination of the ancient Greek or Roman 
the pillars of Hercules formed the entrance into a 
dark and mysterious sea ; yet, somewhere in its un- 
known waters, towards the setting of the sun, lay, in 
his behef, the Fortunate Islands, under a clearer sky 
and in a happier climate than any known in the world 
of men. This dream of a land, of which they spoke 
sometimes as an Elysium for departed spirits, sometimes 
almost as a region which might be reached by the 
hvmg, was not altogether without an influence for good. 
It kept awake a longing curiosity, which might one day 
give birth to active enterprise ; it prevented the mind 
from accepting the bounds of one or two inland seas as 
the hmits of the habitable world. 

Such dreams were doomed to be dispelled, when 
eighteen centuries later, the march of geographical dis- 
covery began ; but in, their place was left the fact, that 
the earth was larger than antiquity had taken it to be • 
and the belief gradually grew up that even another 

B 




Loiidon £on<frruLri £- 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



continent lay interposed in the untraversed sea between 
Europe and the Indian land. The conviction was jus- 
tified by the discoveries of >Columbus, and his successors. 
One of the latest results of geographical research may 
be thus stated :-All the continents stretch downwards 
from the northern pole of our planet, and termmate m 
points ; as if its waters, receding to the south, had left 
bare at the lower extremities of the land the central 
ridges only. In the Southern hemisphere, islands form 
a partial equipoise to these continental masses of land, 
and declare themselves, by several indications, to be 
peaks of land, once elevated but afterwards submerged 
by the increased depth of ocean. Islands elevated by 
volcanic action constitute exceptions to this general 

formula. 

Lieutenant Julien, of the French navy, gives, as a 
farther fniit of his own investigation, that in proceed- 
ing from the North to the South Pole, the ratio of land 
to water diminishes regularly with every parallel of 

latitude. , 

Islands, comparatively few in number above the 
Tropic of Cancer, stud the southern waters of the world 
in countless abundance. Group after group spreads 
onwards like the constellations of the firmament. In 
.size, they vary from the vast mass of Australia, and oi 
Borneo, with its fifty millions of inhabitants,* to little 
^ulos and low lagoon-islands, rising but a few feet 

above the sea-level. 

The whole of this tropical and southern realm ot 
waters has been named Oceanica, and has been divided 
hvdrographically, for convenience of reference, into five 
districts-as the stars have been mapped out into ima- 

« Its population is so reported by the bishop of Labuan. 



GEOGBAPHICAL POSITION. 



ginary figures with corresponding names. The divisions 
of the Ocean World are the following :— To the east- 
ward, Polynesia ; comprising the Sandwich, Mar- 
quesas, Society, Harvey, Friendly, New Zealand, and 
Samoan groups. To the south, Melanesia— inhabited 
b}^ black races ; it includes the Figi (or Feejee) New 
Hebrides and Solomon AVchipelagoes, and New Guinea, 
Still more south, Austealasia— comprehending the 
great land of Australia, and its dependencies. West- 
ward, Malaisia— embracing the East India Islands, 
and mhabited principally by tEe Malay races. These 
islands, six thousand in number, contain the largest in 
the world, with the exception of Australia. Lastly, 
situated somewhat centrally with respect to the other 
groups, a region of small isles and islets, fitly named 
Micronesia. 

It is proposed in the following pages to give an 
account of the most northerly cluster of the Polynesian 
Archipelago, viz. the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands. 
And if on close inspection we find reason to remove the 
place of the Islands of the Blest still onward with the 
retreating horizon, and discover that, amidst natural 
charms and delicious climate, vice and death and sorrow 
hold their place, we only confirm the poet's discovery 
that — "^ 

' things which to the world belong, 
So false doth sad experience find, 
She learns betimes among the throng, 
To bound the kmgdom to the mind!' 

But we shall be made acquainted with a very interesting 
people, evincing an extraordinary aptitude for European " 
civilisation, and possessing a ' government which, youth- 
ful as it is, will bear comparison with those of the best 

B 2 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



ruled states in Europe.'* These islands have, more- 
over, a special interest to our countrymen at the present 
moment, inasmuch as, at the invitation of their 
sovereign, the English Episcopal Church has been 
planted for the first time on their shores ; not merely, 
it is hoped, to enlighten that immediate spot, but to 
shed its light across the waters to other island-homes. 

The importance of the Sandwich Islands, politically 
and commercially, arises from their particularly central 
situation. They lie in a diagonal position from south- 
east to north-west, in a parallelogram rather exceeding 
one formed by the 19th and 22nd degrees of north 
latitude, and the 155th and 160th meridians of west 
longitude ; and it will be seen, by reference to a map, 
that the group is nearly equidistant from the coasts of 
America and Japan, and that a radius from its centre 
would touch in succession the shores of central America, 
the north-west States, the Eussian territory, the Aleu- 
tian Archipelago, Japan, the Philippine Islands, Torres' 
Straits, New Zealand, and the Feejee Islands. And 
whilst Australia is just beyond the ambit, California 
and Vancouver's Island are within a shorter distance of 
the Hawaiian Islands. 

Thus they form an oasis in the ocean desert — a step- 
ping-stone between two worlds ; and they afford a place 
of refreshment of the utmost value for merchantmen 
and the large fleet of whalers in the northern Pacific. 
Commerce is establishing for itself a new road from east 
to west, and from west to east, across the ocean ; and 
we still wait in expectation to see an opening forced 
through the Isthmus of Panama, by which ships may 
sail from sea to sea, carrying on the interchange of 

* C. St. Julian.— 'Eeport on Central Polynesia.' 



IMPORTANCE OF THEIR SITUATION. 5 

human labour and natural production, without the ne- 
cessity of a protracted voyage round the South American 
Continent, and consequent exposure in the inclemeot 
and dangerous latitudes of Cape Horn.* Should the 
Darien Ship Canal be constructed, the Hawaiian Islands 
will assume a far greater importance than they have 
yet had, for they lie in the very path which navigation 
would then take. Even now, says a recent visitor, ' the 
islands, on account of their position and the extent of 
cultivable land they contain, enjoy advantages above 
any other of the numerous groups which lie scattered 
over the Pacific Ocean.'f 

Humboldt, writing before the year 1822, says — 'The 

Sandwich Islanders are excellent sailors They 

have attempted to build schooners, and even armed 
vessels, with which they project distant expeditions. 
. . . They have profited more from their communi- 
cation with Europeans than all the other South Sea 
islanders. The sphere of their ideas has been extended ; 
wants have been communicated to them which they 
were ignorant of; and within these twenty years they 
have made a considerable progress towards that social 
state which we very improperly designate by the word 
"civilisation." . . . Perhaps this people will one day 
be as formidable on the Great Ocean as the privateers 
and pirates of the Bermudas and Bahama Islands and 
Barbary who are dreaded in the Atlantic Ocean and the 
Mediterranean.' J 

The origin of the islands is clearly volcanic. This 

^ * On the globe of John Schoner, made in 1520, and preserved in the 
library of Nuremberg, a passage through the Isthmus of Panama is laid 
down : — an interesting anachronism. 

t Hill—' Travels in the Sandwich and Society Islands.' London, 1856. 

I ' Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain.' 1822. 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



tremendous agency, by wMcli they were elevated from 
the depths of the sea, and which has tossed up moun- 
tain peaks in Hawaii 14,000 feet above the water-level, 
appears to have taken a direction from South-east to 
North-west; the first exertion of force having been 
greatest, and diminishing in intensity as it proceeded. 
Thus Hawaii, the most Southerly island, has an area 
of 4000 out of 6000 square miles, the whole super- 
ficial contents of the group ; and it possesses also the 
highest elevation ; the two mountains Mauna Kea and 
Mauna Loa being of nearly equal altitude, viz. 14,000 
feet. On the side of the latter mountain is situated the 
great volcanic crater Kilauea. Next in position to 
Hawaii, is the island of Maui, with an area of 620 
miles, and having in its neighbourhood the smaller 
islands of Lanai and Kahoolawe. To the north-west of 
Maui lies Molokai, a long narrow island extending east 
and west, formed by a mountain ridge, which runs its 
whole length. Next comes Oahu, with an area of 530 
miles. Nearly two degrees beyond Oahu is situated 
Kauai, 500 miles in extent. Last in order of the 
greater islands is Niihau ; and farther westward Kaula 
rises, which, with one or two islets and uninhabited 
rocks, shews itself the expiring effort of Plutonic energy. 
The observations of Mr. Hill led him to an opposite 
conclusion with regard to the direction and order in 
which the islands were proj ected. He is of opinion that 
Niihau was the first thrown up, and that the volcanic 
action advanced towards the south-east, and increased 
in energy till it culminated in Hawaii, the last and 
largest link of the chain. As the grounds of this opinion, 
he gives the more or less advanced state of the soil, the 
progress of vegetation, and the cessation or diminution 
of eruptions and earthquakes. Upon all these data he 



THEIR ORIGIN. 7 

decided Kaui to possess the greatest antiquity, and 
Hawaii the least. He feels his opinion fortified by the 
volcanic activity existing in Hawaii, and by the fact 
that in 1837 an extraordinary retreat of the sea took 
place from the shores of that island, followed by a 
returning wave, indicating great disturbance, and giving 
rise to the impression that another island was about to 
rise to the south-east of Hawaii. The phenomena do 
not appear quite conclusive in establishing the relative 
dates of the islands. The oldest lava in Hawaii may 
be, and probably is, overlaid by newer deposits and 
thus concealed ; and the present volcanic activity may 
only shew that the original seat of energy remains un- 
changed ; and that the action, greatest at Hawaii, ex- 
panded itself in a north-west direction,— its last result 
being the rudimentary island of Niihau, and the rock 
called Bird Island.* 

The volcanic, though it is the primar}^, is not the 
sole origin of the group. From the flanks of the sub- 
merged mountains the coral insect builds upwards its 
wonderful structure, till it emerges from the waves as a 
reef, more or less distant from the shore. The antiquity 
of the islands is shewn by their coralline formations, 
which could only have attained their present elevation 
by the incessant labours of an infinitude of insects, 
acting through vast periods of time. In some places 
there is a double reef; the outer line indicating, per- 
haps, the slow upheaving of the base of the mountains 
from the sea-bottom subsequently to its first projec- 
tion, until it approached sufficiently near the surface 
of the water to fulfil the conditions necessary to insect 

* Two slight earthquakes hare been experienced since the commence- 
ment of the present year (1862) at Honolulu. On both occasions the 
motion was from east to west. 



8 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

existence. The coral reefs of the Hawaiian islands are, 
however, of much smaller extent than those of more 
southern groups, and only appear on some of the 

coasts. 

As might be supposed from the igneous origin of the 
islands, no metals are found on them.* Scoriae, decom- 
posed lava, with sand, &c., are the materials of the soil ; 
but ledges of compact limestone are found at consi- 
derable elevations above the sea ; portions of the bottom 
of the ocean, probably forced upwards by the great 
submarine eruptions which have produced the lofty 
craters which abound. There is also found on the shore 
a species of white stone, which, from the description re- 
ceived of it, would seem to be analogous to the English 
« clunch,' used in the restorations of Ely Cathedral ; 
which, from the ease w^ith which it is worked, is very 
valuable for carved tracery. This stone, found in the 
districts of Ewa and Waianae, island of Oahu, is soft 
whilst lying in the water or under the sand, and easily 
cut ; but hardens by exposure to the sun. For building 
purposes there are basalt, compact lava, coral rock and 
sandstone. 

* Ellis remarks a fact whicli appears an exception to the absence of 
metals stated above. In joiirneying from the village of Keapuana,^ in 
Hawaii to the foot of Mauna Loa, he crossed a waste or desert of line 
sparkling sand, into which the feet sank at every step. It was of a 
dark olive colour, and adhered readily to the magnet. Unless meteoric, 
it is difficult to account for its presence ; and it recalls the tracts of steel 
or ferruginous sand abundant on some of the shores of New Zealand. 

Mr. Goodrich, one of Mr. Ellis's fellow missionaries, remarked also, 
that when ascending the great mountain Mauna Kea, the compass, 
which pointed true North whilst held in the hand, was deflected be- 
tween two and three degrees to the eastward when placed on the blocks 
of lava which abounded ; and he attributed this effect to iron contained 
in the mountain. May not the mass of the mountain in proximity alone 
have produced the deflection ? 



SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS. 9 

The regions of fertility lie at the bases of the moun- 
tains and in the valleys, where abrasion and disintegra- 
tion have proceeded for untold years, and rich deposits 
of vegetable mould have accumulated. Such a valley 
runs up from the capital, Honolulu, among the hills ; 
and from the beautiful views it affords, — its grassy 
slopes, its bridged rivulets, its villas, and especially 
its" air, which becomes more invigorating as the road 
winds upward, — the Nuuanu Valley is one of the 
favourite rides of the residents of Honolulu. 

The soil is generally thin and poor, but this is not 
universally the case ; and it affords fine pasturage. On 
the ^ lands,' or grazing farms, are raised large herds, 
which supply meat for the whalers and merchant-ship- 
ping, and thus find a ready market. Vast numbers of 
horses also subsist on the islands, mostly of an inferior 
kind ; and it would be an advantage to the kingdom if 
four-fifths of them were destroyed. They unnecessarily 
consume the grass, and break the fences ; but horse- 
riding is a passion with the natives of both sexes. 

Some of the islands are well supplied with rivers 
and streams, particularly Hawaii and Kauai. Along 
the shore of Hilo, a district of that island, sixty per- 
manent streams of various sizes fall into the sea ; whilst 
their numerous branches and feeders thread the coun- 
try, and give unrivalled facilities for irrigation. 

Large forests abound, very dense, and broken with 
chasms, ravines, and extinct craters. In making the 
ascent of the two great mountains in Hawaii, twelve 
miles of forest have to be passed through. 

The great harbour of the group is Honolulu, situated 
on the south side of Oahu. It is formed by an inden- 
tation of the coast, protected by a broad coral reef. 
The channel through the reef has only twenty-two and 



10 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

a half feet water at its shallowest part ; so that though 
the harbour is commodious, vessels drawing more than 
twenty feet are excluded, and lie in the roadstead out- 
side, where there is excellent anchorage, except during 
a Souther, or 'Kona.' For shipping of less draught, 
pilots are in attendance, and the vessels either run 
through the channel on a wind, or, more generally, 
are towed in. Ships go out of harbour under sail, as 
for nine months in the year the trade wind is blowing 
seaward. 

Within the harbour there is plenty of space and every 
convenience. On the right hand a battery, seated on 
Punch-bowl Hill, commands the port. There are 
wharves and warehouses, conveniences for heaving ships 
down for repairs, and pipes for supplying fresh water, 
A steam-dredging machine is at work deepening and 
cleaning the harbour. The inhabitants of Honolulu 
speak with pride of 150 sail of shipping having been 
seen in their port at one time. 

During the year 1859, Honolulu was visited by two 
British, one French, one American, and one Eussian 
ships of war: 109 merchantmen* and 170 whalers 
entered the harbour; whilst 19 merchant-ships and 79 
whalers remained outside. 

Eight miles westward, at Ewa, on the same island, 
is an inland basin, in which the entire commerce of 
the ^Pacific might lie; but this great harbour is almost 
useless, from there being only twelve feet water on the 
bar at low tide. 

The next place of importance, as regards commerce, 
is Lahaina, on the south-west or leeward side of Maui. 
Five merchantmen and 116 whalers entered this road- 

* This number includes second and third visits of some of the vessels. 



HAEBOUES. 1 1 

stead in 1859. On the north-west side of Hawaii, in 
Byron's Bay, is the harbour of Hilo ; spacious, and with 
a good entrance through the wide coral reef. This port 
is on the windward face of the island, and is not now 
much frequented. Only two merchant-ships entered it 
in 1859, and forty-nine whalers. Formerly it appears 
to have been a place of greater resort. In 1846, four 
men-of-war, sixty-seven whalers, and thirty-four trading 
schooners arrived there. Three or four other harbours 
are accessible; and other parts of the coast possess un- 
developed potentialities. The estuary of Pearl River 
(Oahu), for example, is a port, safe, large, and deep 
enough to contain all the shipping of that ocean ; but 
its shallow channel will only permit small vessels to 
enter. 

Independent of the harbours, ships can lie at anchor 
with safety in many of the roadsteads ; which, though 
they are exposed, have good holding ground, have no 
dangers from hidden reefs or rocks, and the winds pre- 
vailing for nine or ten months in the year are more or 
less favourable, according to the bearing of the Trades 
and Konas upon the coasts. 



12 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEE 11. 

PHYSICAL FEATUKES AND PHENOMENA — VOLCANOES. 

ON approaching the group from certain directions the 
first objects which meet the sight are the two lofty 
peaks on Hawaii, each 14,000 feet in height,— two miles 
and a half,— one of them capped with perpetual snow, 
which contrasts with the deep blue of the tropical sky 
above, and with the darkness of the lava forming the 
sides of the mountains. A rude and irregular outline of 
high lands then presents itself; and on the north side 
are seen, on a nearer view, the dark forests which clothe 
the lower region of the mountains; whilst giddy 
precipices front the sea, of from 1000 to 3000 feet in 
perpendicular height, against whose walls the waves 
beat and surge and thunder through the caverns which 
they have hollowed for themselves in their ceaseless 
war. In some places, streams which have united their 
waters on their way, rush together over one of these 
palis, or precipices, into the ocean. Still nearer, the 
white foam is seen pouring in sheets over coral reefs, 
of which there is sometimes an outer and inner ridge. 
The islands are generally lofty; the small isle of Lehua, 
near Mihau, having an elevation of 1000 feet. The 
upland region of Kauai has an uniform height above 
the sea of 4000 feet. Once through the reefs, or an- 
chored in a leeward roadstead, scenes of gentler beauty 



PHYSICAL CONFOEMATION. 13 

are discovered,— pleasant bays, with sandy shores, a 
native village, often with its small chapel, and generally 
with its school, sheltered by groves of palms and coker- 
nut, and the deeper green of the bread-fruit tree ; rivers 
running to the sea, down some of whose cascades the 
native girls and youths cast themselves with laughter, 
and take a bath which must exceed any douche ever 
experienced at the severest of our water-cure establish- 
ments. At the mountain-foot grassy plains meet the 
forest, roamed over by herds of cattle, which in many 
instances have become wild. Coffee plantations and 
sugar-cane give their verdure to the cultivated districts. 

The construction of the islands being essentially vol- 
canic, the character of the scenery depends on that con- 
dition. Indeed, it is probable that they are but domes 
concealing the vast internal fires, and the crust which 
separates living nature from this great agent of destruc- 
tion seems in places to be thin enough. Not that it is 
to be supposed there is any want of permanence in 
their existence ; forests have grown old, and a hundred 
generations of men have trod the hills and valleys in 
security. During the late great eruption of Mauna Loa, 
one of the newspapers published in Honolulu spoke of 
the volcano as a national institution, of which the in- 
habitants of the islands were proud, and to which they 
were, perhaps, almost attached. 

The crater of Kilauea is the largest active one in the 
world. Other volcanoes, of great size, exist in a state 
of partial or entire quiescence. The crater on Mauna 
Haleakala (House of the Sun), on Maui, has not been 
active within the traditions of the people. Its dimen- 
sions exceed those of any crater known, being nine miles 
in diameter, and 2000 feet in depth. Extinct volcanoes 
are very common. They are of every age, size, and 



14 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

shape; at some places crowning the summits of lofty 
hills and mountains; elsewhere rising precipitously 
from plains, or projecting into the ocean they form 
prominent landmarks for navigators. The singular 
promontory, near Honolulu, called Diamond Head, is a 
well-known instance. One uninhabited island of the 
group, Molokini, is an extinct crater, crescent-shaped, 
of slight elevation, with one side open to the sea. 

The very remarkable salt lake, named Aliapaakai, 
situated four miles from Honolulu, and one mile inland 
from the sea, is probably the remains of a volcanic 
crater. Its form is oval, being about a mile in circuit ; 
its elevation above the ocean is only a few feet, and its 
general depth but eighteen inches. It is a natural 
evaporating pan for the production of salt, which forms 
abundantly on its surface at certain seasons, even to 
bearing a man's weight on the deposit. The level of 
the pool is slightly affected by the tides, which appear 
to act through a hole which exists in its centre, and to 
which it is said no bottom has been found. If a syphon- 
like connection is maintained, however, with the sea, it 
is difficult to understand how the waters of the lake are 
supported above the general hydrostatic level. 

Deep conical pits are met with in the dense forests, 
which have probably also been craters. These are very 
dangerous in traversing the woods, their mouths being 
often concealed by trailing and orchidaceous plants. 
One member of an expedition which ascended Mauna 
Loa, in February 1859, to observe the great eruption, 
lost his life by falling into a cavity of this kind. He was 
recovered from the pit, but his spine was injured, and he 
died a few days afterwards. Chasms and ravines also in- 
terrupt the forest, the scars of former cosmic convulsion. 

In such a volcanic region earthquakes are not un- 



VOLCANIC PHENOMENA. 15 

common ; but tliey are severe only in Hawaii. At Hilo, 
in that island, in the year 1838, the earth continued 
in a state of agitation for two days and nights, causing 
the plants to tremble, and producing in human beings 
a sensation of nausea. Forty or fifty shocks occurred 
in the space of eight days. In 1841, an earthquake 
more severe was experienced; throwing down large 
portions of rock from one of the jpalis of sheer cliffs, 
but not destroying either house or Hfe. Slight shocks 
in all the islands are not uncommon. 

In the Pacific there are various indications of the 
submarine volcanic action. Ships occasionally feel a 
blow from beneath, when traversing the deep sea, as 
if they had struck on ground. JN-earer the coast of 
South America marine geysers occur. From a small 
circular space vapour is seen ascending, and on entering 
the circle the water is found to be of scalding heat 
The great wave, or rising of the sea which occasionally 
takes place, and sometimes with lamentable results, is 
in all probability due to an earthquake below the 
depths of ocean, producing unusually deep oscillation of 
the waters. In December 1860, during fine weather 
with very little wind, the sea gradually rose in the har- 
bour of Kahului, Island of Maui, eight or ten feet above 
Its ordinary high-water level, spreading over the beach 
destroying several fences, but doing no further damac^e' 
The next morning the sea,' though still very full, had 
greatly subsided in height, but throughout the day the 
bay was full of rip-tides, and the water boiled as in 
a kettle. At Maliko, on the same island, the sea ran 
inland up a little valley, and washed away a small 
hamlet of ten or twelve native houses, leaving only 
one standing. As the rising was gradual, the people 
received warning, and no lives were lost. 



16 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

In 1746, the town of Callao, Peru, was destroyed by 
a great wave; and during the present century risings 
of the sea have occurred three or four times in the 
Hawaiian Islands. The first, mentioned by Mr. Jarvis, 
happened in Honolulu harbour, in the year 1809 ; but 
that was caused by the bursting of a water-spout. It 
caused the sea to rise three feet on the beach. In 1819, 
another oscillation took place, but unattended with any 
fatal consequences. On the 7th of November, 1837, 
the sea was observed, at 5 p.m., to be suddenly and 
rapidly retiring in the harbour of Honolulu. The baro- 
meter had not indicated any atmospheric change. The 
fall was eight feet, and the reefs were left entirely dry. 
Hundreds of the natives, who are as much at their ease 
in w^ater as they are on the land, pursued the retreating 
wave, gathering up fish which were left stranded. The 
sea then returned, and in about half an hour, had reached 
the mark of its highest spring-tides. On receding again, 
it fell six and a half feet. These marine vibrations 
continued for about twenty hours, gradually diminish- 
ing, and then ceased. Their effects in the other islands 
were more disastrous than at Oahu. On the windward 
side the phenomena were increased by the trade wind 
and the tides, which act on the north side of the group 
with greater force. On Maui, the sea, having retired 
about twenty fathoms, returned with great speed in one 
great wave, sweeping before it canoes, houses, trees, and 
human beings. At Kahului, the inhabitants followed 
the retreating waters, full of dehght ; but suddenly they 
rose like a steep wall, and, returning to the shore, 
rushed forward, burying the natives in foam, and de- 
stroying the whole hamlet. Nevertheless, so perfect is 
the islander's swimming science that only two persons 
lost their lives. In Byron's Bay, Hawaii, far more 



EISING OF THE SEA. I7 

disastrous events occurred. In consequence of a reli- 
gious meeting in the village, it was crowded with people. 
At 6.30 P.M. the sea ran out at the rate of five miles 
an hour, and left great part of the harbour dry. The 
multitude gathered eagerly on the beach to witness 
the unusual spectacle, when a gigantic wave came 
roaring towards them, at the speed of seven or eight 
miles per hour, its height being twenty feet above high- 
water mark, and dashed itself upon the shore with a 
crash like thunder. The ruin was universal. People, 
animals, houses, canoes, all property, were mingled en- 
tangled, and overwhelmed together— as when the horse 
and his rider were buried by the Eed Sea. Loud 
wailing and cries of shrill distress were joined with the 
hiss and roar of the flood, and made themselves heard 
above it. The water was full of human beings struggling 
for their lives among the floating wreck, or entangled 
by it. The great wave had dashed over the deck of an 
English whaler at anchor in the bay. As soon as her 
crew recovered from the shock, they lowered their boats 
and succeeded in saving many lives, for not a canoe had 
escaped, and numbers of people, stunned and insensible, 
were being floated seaward. In one hamlet sixty-seven 
habitations were destroyed, and eleven lives lost. The 
destruction of food and other property was universal. 
The wave struck the several islands from the same direc- 
tion, rendering it probable that the force was generated 
at a distance from the group. Although the action of 
the crater of Kilauea, on Mauna Loa, had been unusu- 
ally furious during the previous night, and new chasms 
)pened m it with violent explosions, no earthquake or 
:errestrial disturbance was observed. 

Of aerial phenomena, it is recorded that, on the 25th 
)f September, 1825, a great shower of meteoric stones 

c 



18 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

fell at Honolulu, attended with very loud noises. Large 
fragments struck the ground with such force as to indent 
deeply the coral rock. Pieces of the stone were found 
of from fourteen to twenty pounds weight. 

The great volcano of Kilauea is situated on the eastern 
ascent of Mauna Loa, in Hawaii. The crater is gene- 
rally in activity ; but as it never emits smoke, only 
its moods of anger and of rarer violence are observable 
from a distance. Several powerful eruptions have oc- 
curred in the memory of the present generation. The 
crater is situated about 4000 feet above the base of the 
mountain, and is approached by a not very difficult 
ride. Deep forests have to be traversed, and then rough 
ground, formed of broken lava, and interrupted by 
strong rapids and deep ravines. The brink of the gulf 
being attained, an abyss confronts the spectator too 
wide and too deep to allow him to see its opposite side 
or its bottom, except the active portion of matter within, 
burning and fusing, and hourly changing form. The 
circumference of the orifice has been variously stated to 
be six and nine miles, and its depth from 400 to 1000 
feet. A gloomy mythology has not let escape so apt an 
arena without adding her ' supernumerary horror.' This 
was the dwelling-place of the terrible goddess Pele, the 
most dreaded divinity of the Hawaiian Pantheon. Here, 
in this fiery abyss, she, with attendant demons, bathed 
and sported in its sulphurous waves. This, too, was 
the scene of Christian courage triumphing over material 
and supernatural terrors, when the converted chiefess, 
Kapiolani, in the year 1825, dared the anger of the 
invaded goddess and the dangers of the way, and de- 
scended alone into the crater, casting from her hands 
into the seething lava the sacred berries, as an open act 
of desecration. 



CEATER OF KILAUEA. 



19 



Though no smoke is emitted, a thin vapour arises 
from the orifice, and by day hangs aboye it like a silvery 

"^ta f ■ ^!"' ^^^ '^^'^^ ^^^ ^^^^-i' °f Mauna Loa 
m 1849, describes the varying effects of the light pro- 
jected upwards from the crater as day declined to be 
very beautiful. At a distance of twenty miles from the 
volcano he perceived a faint light in the sky when first 
daylight began to diminish. As darkness increased, the 
light assumed the appearance of the Aurora borealis in 
Its most fixed condition. MTien night was complete, 
the glare, seen from the brow of a hill, was like that of 
a vast forest in flames; while the vapour, which floated 
high above the crater, threw down its reflection of the 
volcanic fire, enhancing the effect by a mirror-like re- 
petition. _ On reaching the brink of the gulf, lava was 
seen issuing from a dark cone, apparently in the centre 
ot the pit, and ran down in a vast stream of liquid fire 
into a bed of luminous vapours. At sunrise the crater 
assumed a very different appearance. Mr. Hill and his 
companions turned their eyes from the splendid effects 
ot light, as the two great peaks ' stood up and took the 
mormng,' gathering colour from the unseen orb and 
rising into the heavens, as by some magic power, from 
«ie abyss of vapours floating lower down, whilst peaks, 
hills, forests, and deep ravines, caught in succession the 
sun s beams, till day was again established upon a beau- 
tiful earth. They looked into the crater, which nothing, 
could exceed in frightful desolation. By the latest ' 
actual surveys, its form is oval, having the lenoih of 
three miles and a half, and a breadth of two miles and 
1 half, giving a circumference of nine miles. Its height 
ibove the sea-level is about 6000 feet. Within two 
ligh back cones rose in the midst of a rude plain of 
Dlack and pink-coloured lava, rocky substances being 



20 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



thrown up into Mils of no mean dimensions. Around 
the cones lay a lake of liquid fire, which appeared ready 
to overthrow the cool beds forming the more even part of 
the lava plain. A curious fibrous substance, resembhng 
threads of flax, but brittle as glass, is found adhermg to 
the bushes round the banks of the crater In many 
places it covers the shrubs like cobwebs. ' Pete « hair 
I the appropriate name given to these fibres found so 
near the dwelling of that most feared and dread divin^y 
Eiaht hundred feet below the brmk of the abyss a 
ledge^of hard lava encircles the changing contents of 
the volcano. The descent to this ledge is rough and 
difficult, but not impracticable : it occupied Mr mU 
about half an hour. Continumg on the ledge, and 
steering by a compass and by recollection of the appear- 
ance of°the crater from above, he and his compamons 
proceeded for a quarter of a mile, till they were stopped 
L hu<.e basaltic blocks, confusedly piled up, and rising 
t; the\eight of three or four hundred feet Taking a 
new direction, they again approached the banks of the 
crater which they found in one place were formed ot 
mme;se deposits of pure sulphur. The plain o. which 
thev now walked was smoother ; but several deep cavi- 
ties were passed, caused by sinkings of the volcanic 
matter afte^ cooling. Two more hours of difficul march 
brought them to the brink of the great lake of liquid 
fire^' the Stygian lake forlorn'-in the midst of which 
rose the two remarkable cones they had previously seen 
Jets of the seething cauldron were thrown upwards at 
intervals, and hissing vapour oozed from many fissures 
in the fixed lava-bed on which they trod, the form of 
^hich was continually changing. The appearance of 
the inner walls of the crater was remarkable, exhibiting 
irreoular patches of calcareous and other earths ; and 



DESCENT OF THE CRATER. 21 

the whole effect was so illusive, that it was impossible 
to decide how far the explorers were from the sides. 
This uncertainty was probably in part caused by hete- 
rogeneous vapours mixing at different temperatures, 
and from the novelty of the whole circumstances. As 
they gazed, the illusion took an extraordinary form. 
They seemed to see before them an immense country 
stretching from the lava-plain at their feet, varied by 
hills and dales, upon whose slopes flocks of sheep were 
grazing, whilst cities and villages studded this land of 
faery. 

The adventurous travellers next descended about one 
hundred feet, through fissures and by ledges, till they 
stood beside some small pools of molten elements — 
detached outposts of the great central, unbroken sea of 
fire.* Enduring a good scorching, and covering their 
faces, they were able to dip the ends of their staves into 
these pools, and the green wood was reduced instantly 
to ashes. The two great cones, rising high and dark 
amidst the fiery turmoil, excited their extremest interest. 
Seeking some means of approaching nearer to them, 
and proceeding along the ledge of firm lava, they arrived 
at a sort of natural bridge, or inclined causeway, across 
the gulf, connecting the ledge with one of the cones. 
They commenced traversing the ascending causeway, 
the upper part of which was, in places, a thin, brittle 
crust, separated from one to five feet from the more 
solid matter below, and through which upper lamina 
one of the party fell. When halfway across, they paused 
to contemplate the terrible scene. At a great depth 
beneath boiled the fiery poo\,; above them appeared a 
huge conduit of unchained fire ; and on all sides a region 

* It is proper to saj that the descent has been frequently made by 
ladies. 



22 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

of frightful desolation. The two travellers and their 
native guide had not long recommenced climbing when 
their course was suddenly arrested. The infirm lava- 
crust beneath their feet began to shake ominously, whilst 
frightful, unearthly sounds from the mouth of the cone 
pierced their ears. As soon as they were released from 
the first panic, which transfixed them, they commenced 
the most rapid retreat in their power along the cause- 
way. But before they had advanced many paces towards 
the lava-plain, the prelude of mighty blasts changed to 
cracks of near thunder, and immense masses of hot lava 
were thrown to a great height. The travellers' imme- 
diate danger was that of being crushed by the falling 
lava, and from this there was no shelter. At first the 
blocks, issuing perpendicularly, fell back into the crater; 
but they then began to fall beyond the cone, plunging 
into the gulf on both sides the causeway, or rolling 
past the travellers with a terrible impetuosity. Some 
even fell on their frail bridge, broke through, and 
were lost beneath it. Through the wild uproar and 
confusion Mr. Hill and his companions finally reached 
the firm ledge in safety. Within the general crater, 
which they explored, there are several more of these 
volcanic tumuli, some extinct, or active at intervals 
only. There are on Mauna Loa several other ancient 
craters, from which, at present, streams of vapour alone 
issue. The temperature on the mountain varied, during 
the twenty-four hours, from 17 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. 
The many volcanoes on the sides of the sister heights of 
Mauna Kea are entirely inactive. 

From about the middle of 1856, for nearly three 
years, the volcano continued in a state of more than 
usual energy. Elvers of lava rolled downwards, through 
the forest, and over precipices, destroying the native 



ERUPTION OF 1859. 23 

kalo grounds, and rendering villages uninhabitable. 
They found their way through valleys even to the shore, 
until in deadly struggle with the waves their course 
was stayed, — the temperature of the sea being so raised 
during the conflict as to kill great quantities of fish. 

On the 23rd of January, 1859, a great eruption com- 
menced on Mauna Loa. The lava took a northerly 
direction, rounded the side of another mountain, and bv 
the 28th, had debouched over the plateau and run 
some distance into the sea ; destroying in its way a small 
fishing village. At the same time an interruption of 
the trade-wind took place, probably having some con- 
nection with the volcanic action. Sight-seers, who are 
indigenous to all lands, hastened to Hawaii. They were 
rewarded by a spectacle of indescribable grandeur. The 
fire rose 250 feet above the crater, taking, sometimes, 
the form of a cone of flame ; at others, that of a ^et de 
feu, before which all artificial pyrotechnics would have 
had to pale their ineffectual fires. The descending 
lava presented a head of incandescence 200 rods in 
wddth, curving over the mountain-sides like a blood-red 
snake, and occasionally leaping sheer down a ^ali. 

On the 9th of February an observing party left the 
College at Honolulu for the purpose of ascending to the 
crater. It was one of their number who was killed, as 
previously mentioned, by falling into a concealed pit in 
the forest. On the 15th, Capt. Montresor, in H. B. M.'s 
ship * Calypso,' conveyed the king and his suite, from 
Oahu to Hawaii, to observe the phenomena of the erup- 
tion. Its first appearance, seen at night from sea, was 
that of a star having two rays of light depending from 
it, — a double-comet, in fact, — hanging two-thirds up 
the mountain-side. Landing at Kaawoloa, or Cook's 
Bay, the expedition commenced their ascent, and having 



24 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

passed through a forest seven miles in breadth, emerged 
on a plateau 5000 feet above the sea-level, affording a 
good site for observation. By daylight, two great and 
solemnly moving rivers were seen flowing northward 
and westward from the crater, with subsidiary streams. 
Their motion was marked by the sudden ignition of 
trees, which fell in that short, fiery embrace. The ap- 
pearance at ni^'ht is thus described : ' The immense 
arena : the intense glare of the flows and fissures cover- 
ing the mountain-side, to the height of some 6000 feet 
above us, describing horizontal lines and points of 
molten mineral matter; the sullen glow above the 
crater and inferior orifices from which the lava issued; 
the fire and smoke rising from the far-off streams, and 
those nearer at hand, in which latter, every now and 
then, the burning trees threw up their wreathed flames, 
like the arms of an agonised victim -added to the sort 
of glimmer and twinkle seen on a frosty night, produced 
a spectacle of such grandeur that words before it become 
powerless. If on some mountain-side the largest fire 
that ever devastated San Francisco could be reproduced, 
and four or five hundred domes, like that of St. Peter's 
at Kome when illuminated, be dotted about on the 
slopes below, the general effect might be that of a very 
pretty miniature on ivory of the eruption on Mauna 
Loa. Every five minutes or so, some new chasm or 
torrent shewed itself, comparable at first to the spark 
of a glow-worm, but suddenly extending like a train of 

gunpowder.' 

Lest this picture should seem to be somewhat deeply 
tinged with that excusable exaggeration in which new 
impressions from great natural phenomena often clothe 
themselves, we will add to it the more scientific ac- 
count of the eruption given by Professor Alexander, 



ERUPTION OF 1859. 



lio 



of the Punahou College. He describes the jet, when 
first seen by his party, as 300 feet in height ; in form 
and movement exactly like a fountain, and accompanied 
by immense columns of steam. By day his companions 
explored the craters. The principal sources of action 
were two cones, about 150 feet high, composed of 
pumice and fragments of lava. The suffocating gases 
which escaped from the red-hot ventholes of these fur- 
naces, rendered it a matter of danger to approach them. 
At night, the party encamped by a fresh lava-stream, 
which served well for all cooking purposes. The next 
morning they followed the central flow from the lower 
crater, and reached its outlet from its subterranean 
channel. Its appearance, there, was that of a pool of 
blood, a few rods in width, boiling up like a spring, and 
spouting out thick, clotted masses to the height of ten 
or twenty feet. On the lower side it poured like a cata- 
ract of molten metal at white heat, down a descent of 
about fifty feet, with a roar like that of a heavy surf. 
Keeping to windward, and protecting their faces with 
their hats, they approached the brink. The lava ap- 
peared almost as fluid as water, and ran with a velocity 
which the eye could scarcely follow. For several miles 
the fiery river was a continuous series of rapids and 
cataracts. They travelled for three or four hours along 
the edge of the stream. The open part of th'e canal was 
from twenty to fifty feet wide; but the stream was 
really broader, because both its banks were undermined 
to a considerable distance. Over this part of it, flowing 
beneath their steps, there were frequent openings, 
through which they could see the rushing torrent a few 
inches below their feet. ' To describe the scene,' says 
Professor Alexander, ' is impossible. For the first time 
we saw actual ivaves and actual s^ray of liquid lava. 



26 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

As its surges rolled back from the enclosing walls of 
rock, they curled over and broke like combers on the 
reef. There was, besides, an endless variety in its 
forms. Now we passed a cascade ; then a smooth ma- 
jestic river ; then a series of rapids, tossing their waves 
like a stormy sea ; now rolling into lurid caverns, the 
roofs of which were hung with red-hot stalactites ; and 
then under arches, which it had thrown over itself in 
sportive triumph.' After pursuing the great stream 
some miles, it reticulated into so many rivulets, which 
formed the ground between them into islands, that it 
required great caution not to be isolated on the latter. 
The lava often penetrated caves, and blew them up with 
loud explosions. Where the flow debouched upon the 
ocean, it filled up a bay, and formed a promontory in 
its stead. Through the first six months of the'year 1 859, 
the volcano continued in unabated activity. ' Among 
its results, it produced a drought in the district of 
North Kona, all the wells there having become dry. 

When Mr. Ellis* visited Kilauea in 1823, he and his 
companions observed fifty-one conical crater-islands of 
various sizes rising round the edge, or from the surface 
of the burning lake. Twenty-two of these constantly 
emitted columns of grey smoke, or pyramids of brilliant 
flame, and several of them vomited streams of lava. 
The conclusion they arrived at, as to the present forma- 
tion and condition of the crater was, that it had been 
originally full to the horizontal black ledge of lava 400 
feet below the surface of the ground. From this ledge, 
the cliffs, composed of strata of ancient lava, rose per- 
pendicularly. This we may call the first or upper crater. 
The second, or inferior crater, descended from the black 

*' Missionary Tour through Hawaii.' London. 1826,1827. 



CONSTEUCTION OF THE CRATEE. 27 

ledge some three or four hundred feet, with sloping 
sides ; its floor being the burning lake with extended 
cones, described above. It was Mr. Ellis's opinion, that 
this fiery bottom was only a roof or diaphragm, of no 
great thickness, the upper and solidified portion of 
incandescent matter of the volcano ; and that the liquid 
mass had quite recently sunk away from it, and found a 
subterranean outlet to the ocean ; inasmuch as the great 
rising of the sea, previously spoken of, had occurred 
only three weeks before his visit to the volcano. The 
pent-up gases and fluid matter found vents through the 
numerous mammelons, on the upper flooring of the 
crater. The natives, too, believed that Pele had an 
underground exit from the mountain to the sea; and 
we know that heathen myths are often poetic render- 
ings of natural facts. There were other symptoms of a 
great flow of lava about the same time, though unseen. 
At Kaimu, a village on the south-east coast, about two 
months previous to Mr. Ellis's arrival, a slight earth- 
quake was felt; and after the tremulous motion, the 
earth cracked in a fissure, taking a direction from north- 
by-east to south-by-west, and extending several miles. 
The fracture was perpendicular, and the chasm not 
more than two feet in width. Smoke and luminous 
vapour were emitted from it at the time of the occur- 
rence. 

Of the craters on Mauna Hualalai, on the western 
side of Hawaii, the largest seen by Mr. Ellis was about 
one mile in circumference, and 400 feet deep. This 
was extinct at the time of his visit ; but in 1800 a 
great eruption took place from it. On that occasion 
the stream of lava which flowed from the volcano filled 
up a bay nearly twenty miles long, and formed a head- 
land, which runs out three or four miles into the ocean. 



28 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Adjoining this pit was a much smaller one, from which 
sulphurous vapour ascended. Sixteen other craters 
were examined by his party on the same mountain. 

On the next island, Maui, lying north-west of Hawaii, 
is the mountain Maima Hale-a-ka-la, ' the house of the 
sun.' A journey on horse of about six hours brings the 
traveller from the foot of the mountain to the brim of 
the largest crater in the world. Mr. Cheever, who 
visited the spot in 1850, says that as he and his party 
advanced to its edge, there suddenly opened upon them 
a pit, twenty-five or thirty miles in circumference, and 
two or three thousand feet deep. They counted in it 
about sixteen basins of old volcanoes— volcano within 
volcano. To the north-east and to the south-east two 
vast openings broke the lava walls ; sluice-gates, out of 
which the molten lava and sand once poured down to 
the sea. On the sides of the volcanic cones grew large 
plants of the silver-sword {ensis argentea), looking, 
at that distance from the spectator, like little white 
pebbles. From the elevated position where the party 
stood, 10,000 feet above the sea level, the scene was 
magnificent. Four thousand feet below them was a vast 
expanse of cloud, like new-fallen snow, rolled in drifts 
and ridges, and which reflected the sunbeams upwards 
with dazzling splendour. When this sea of cloud broke, 
the island of Lanai was seen, lying directly west, over the 
mountain-tops of Lahaina, themselves having a height 
of 6000 feet. Trending off to the horizon, a hundred 
miles, lay the blue Pacific, not seeming far beneath 
them, but as if lifted up to their own plane of vision.* 
Rising out of the ocean was the dome of Mauna Loa, 

* Edgar Poe gives a graphic description of the effect of the rising 
of the horizon round an aeronaut as he ascends from the earth in a 
balloon. 



CRATER OF HALE-A-KA-LA. 29 

on Hawaii, its snow-capped summit flashing in the sun 
like a bank of alabaster. The clouds, and their shadows 
seen on other clouds far beneath, hovered over the blue 
deep, sometimes seeming to float in it like great ice- 
bergs. The extent covered by the vision on each of 
three sides of the mountain, was at least 200 miles. 

The following account of a visit to the crater of 
Hale-a-ka-la made in 1865, occurs in a letter from 
Mrs. Mason, wife of the Archdeacon of Lahaina, Maui : 

Early next day we set off and had a lovely, though tiresome 
journey up to the summit of Hale-a-ka-la. As we went up 
we passed through the clouds, which we could see as thin 
mist all round. The rare air made Mr. M. feel sick and faint. 
It is a very peculiar sensation, a lightness of your head. 
When we got up I threw myself at the edge of the crater, and 
gazed my fill. I cannot give an idea of the sight, but it strikes 
one dumb with awe. You look down many thousand feet of 
steep declivity into this vast crater. In it are thirteen little 
craters, which only look like small mounds, but really are 
mountains of red lava : beneath you are seen clouds floating 
midway between you and the crater. Sometimes it is clear, 
and then you see the clouds, floating in at the narrow neck of 
the crater, wreath themselves into fantastic shapes, and in five 
minutes fill it. In the distance, tower the Hualalai and the 
Mauna Kea of Hawaii. The crater looks as though one could 
walk through it easily, but it takes a week to ride round the 
mouth of it ! The sun sank to rest in a bed of rosy clouds, 
and Avas a glorious sight, as was also the young moon rising. 
We sat up late round a large wood fire, and then slept in a 
tent ; I did not suffer irom the cold, though when I rose next 
day I w^as reminded of an English frosty morning. It was 
rather too cloudy to see the sun rise to advantage, but the sight 
of the vast crater, and those wonderful clouds sailino- beneath 
our feet, amply repaid us for the exertion. We saw several 
bright meteors flashing, leaving a, long trail of light, but they 
are very common here. One thing struck us, the sense .of 



30 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Stillness. One could feel the silence. Not a sound or sign of 
life, vegetable or animal, in that vast crater. 

From the foregoing accounts of the volcanic condi- 
tion of the islands', it is possible that some readers, who 
may have entertained an idea of visiting them, may 
infer that there is a degree of general instability about 
the country, and a consequent want of permanence in 
its institutions. The supposition is a mistaken one ; 
the Hawaiian Islands and their institutions are probably 
as permanent as other portions of the globe which are 
removed a little farther from the central fires. And 
with regard to persons who are not certain about the 
strength of their nerves, it is by no means incumbent 
on them to make the actual descent into the crater of 
Kilauea.* 

^ From experiments instituted by Arago, Marcet, and others, and 
lately by observations made in sinking a deep mine at Dukmfield, m 
wbieh a depth of 2100 feet has been attained, it is well ascertained 
that a gradually increasing temperature attends the descent from the 
surface of the earth, and bears at different depths ascertainable ratios 
to the depression; any irregularities being dependent, apparently, 
on the different strata pierced, their conducting power for heat, &c. 
The rate of increase varies from about 1 degree in 50 feet to 1 
degree in 100 feet. On this scale, boiling point of water would be 
reached at a depth of two and a half miles; and at forty miles beneath 
the earth's surface the deduced temperature would be 3000 degrees, at 
which heat every metal and every rock would be in a state of fusion- 
Mr W Fairbairn, LL.D., read an interesting paper upon the thermo- 
metrical experiments in the Dukinfield mine, at the Manchester Literary 
and Philosophic Society, in April 1861. 



31 



CHAPTER III. 

CLIMATE — PEODUCTIONS — COMMERCE. 

THOUGH situated within the tropics, the Hawaiian 
Islands enjoy a propitious climate ; one belong- 
ing rather to the temperate than to the torrid zone. 
There is scarcely a place on the globe which has a tem- 
perature so equable as that of Honolulu, one of more 
desirable register, or where the elements are kindlier 
mixed. So invisible is the subject of weather to the 
islanders, that Mr. Jarvis remarks their language has 
no word to express the general idea. The diurnal range 
of the thermometer in Honolulu, is twelve degrees. 
During twelve years the extremes of temperature in 
shade were 90°, and 53° ; the entire range during that 
long period not exceeding 37°. In Canada, near 
Montreal, about the beginning of March of the year 
1861, a variation of 80° occurred in forty-eight hours. 
The mean temperature of the capital of the islands is 
about 75°. At Lahaina the thermometrical range in 
ten years was 32° ; viz., from 54° to 86°; and during no 
day in that period did the variation exceed 19°. What 
may be called the summer and winter seasons cor- 
respond pretty nearly with our own — June being the 
warmest month, January the coldest. Honolulu, La- 
haina, and some other places on the shores, are, from 
their genial climate, eminently serviceable to invalids 
suffering from pulmonary complaints. On the leeward 



32 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

side of the islands, and away from the mountains, little 
rain falls, and the sun is rarely obscured by cloud. For 
about nine months of the year the north-east trade-wind 
blows uninterruptedly ; that north-east wind, so dreaded, 
so disliked, often so fatal, in our own Continent,— 'neither 
good for man nor beast ; ' but there a wind coming down 
from the temperate regions, and softened by passing 
over 2000 miles of ocean. During its prevalence, the 
leeward side of the islands basks in the ^bright sunny 
lapse of a long summer day ; ' inducing by the very 
beauty of the weather some degree of enervation in the 
human system, and a corresponding lotus-eating con- 
dition of mind. A more bracing air may be obtained by 
ascending the mountains. A mere ride from the capital 
up the Nuuanu Valley will give a cooler climate in an 
hour. Lahaina and some other leeward spots on the 
shore, possess the refreshing influence of a regular land 
and sea breeze. Above Lahaina, at an elevation of 3000 
feet, is Mountain Eetreat, with a temperature varying 
from 40° to 75°, and at Waimea, Hawaii, the average 
reading is 64°, the minimum being 48°. But though 
on the mountains, owing to the nature of the soil, the 
ground does not remain damp, rains are very frequent ; 
and on the upland region of Kauai, at a height of 4000 
feet, fires are required even in the month of July. The 
vast quantity of vapoar absorbed into the atmosphere 
below, becomes condensed by the masses of the moun- 
tains, so that showers and mists are habitual with them, 
and the two loftiest peaks of Hawaii are rarely free from 
a belt of cloud. On the windward side of the islands 
the climate is rougher, and the rain-fall much more 
abundant. Whatever there is of disagreeable in the 
weather of the leeward districts, occurs at the time of 
the change, or rather interruption, of the Monsoon, 



CLIMATE. — PEODUCTIONS. 33 

Then violent winds sweep through Honolulu, eddying 
in the streets, and, no doubt, do their work in purifying 
and dispelling stagnant air and unwholesome exhala- 
tions. Eains of a tropical character fall at this season, 
and also play their part in flushing streets and cleansing 
hidden corners. But the sybarites of the capital dislike 
the three months' interval of settled calmness, com- 
plain of it, and write little pasquinades on the weather 
in their newspapers. Sometimes, perhaps, this may 
not be without cause. One January lately, it rained 
at Lahaina continually for eight days, and the rain 
was accompanied by furious squalls from the east- 
ward. A shower that lasts eight days may seem to 
indicate weather not so genial ; but it occurs only at one 
season. After all, it is not much worse than the climate 
of Killarney, and is not to be compared with the rains 
of intertropical India, or to Venezuela, where, according 
to Humboldt, it rained incessantly for ten months.* 

Of the natural productions of the islands, the indi- 
genous Fauna is small. It consists of swine, dogs, rats, 
and a bat, which, forgetful of the decencies, flies by 
day. Of birds, domestic fowls appear to be native. In 
the mountainous region of Hawaii wild geese abound, 
but do not approach the shore. Snipes, plovers, and 
wild ducks are found on all the islands. There are only 
a- few species of singing birds; Ellis mentions one with 
an exceedingly sweet note, resembling that of the 
English thrush. Some of the birds are remarkable for 
the beauty of their plumage ; a small paroquet of glossy 
purple, the tropic bird, the feathers of which are used 
to form the kahili, a kind of fan carried near the kino^ 

o 
_ * EUis gives a meteorological table kept by the American mis- 
sionaries m Oahu during one year. By this, rain fell on only forty days 
of the twelve months, and only forty-seven days besides were cloudy. 

D 



34 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



and chiefs as one of their insignia, and a species of wood- 
pecker, with a variegated plumage of jf^^^'f^ ^^^ 
.reen, from which the heads of some of the idols and 
the beautiful cloaks and helmets of the chiefs were 
made A bird* inhabits the mountainous parts ot tne 
islands having under each wing a single feather ot 
ytTow colour: one inch in length. The birds were 
caught by means of a viscous substance smeared on 
poles, and the two precious feathers were secured. Ot 
such feathers alone was the mavio, or war-cloak, of 
Kamehameha composed. This invaluab e mantle ^as 
four feet long, and eleven feet and a-half m width at 
the bottom. Its formation occupied nine successive 

rormerlv,no poisonous or noxious reptile was a demzen 
of the isla;ds, except centipedes; and these were not 
large in size or numerous. Since intercourse with other 
nations commenced, however, insects and vermin, the 
camp-followers of civilisation, have made their appear- 
ance A small lizard was abundant. Few species of 
insects were found, but they numbered among them 
some which were destructive to vegetation, particularly 
a caterpillar, having the native name of pelua. 

Many varieties of iish frequented the shores but not 
in such abundance as in some other groups. The Ha- 
waiians were expert fishermen; and they ^f^, as once 
was done in Europe, to preserve and fatten fish m tanks 
or stews. Such perfect confidence had the natives m 
m water, that one of their amusements wa^ t» attack a 
shark, and after having evaded and taunted him to kill 
him with a dagger carried in the maro or girdle. On 
trreef is fished the Sea Slug, or Biche cle Mer i,holo- 



* Melithreptes Pacifica. 



VEGETATION. 35 

thuria\ which when dried and prepared forms an 
important article in the cuisine of China: 7135 lbs. 
of this marine production, in a dry state, were exported 
m 1864, and the fishery may be profitably increased. 

The vegetable kingdom in the islands included amono- 
Its indigens the sugar cane, the bread fruit, plantain^ 
banana, cocoa-nut, candle-nut, calabash, and other 
palms; tree-ferns, having the stem fifteen feet in 
height, and cycas. Valuable timber trees grew in the 
forests on the flanks of the mountains; the Kou tree 
(Cordia\ the Koa, and others of hard and heavy wood 
mth a handsome grain. Sandal wood abounded on the 
heights, but was lavishly cut down as an article of com- 
merce, till the tree was nearly exterminated. Of fruit- 
bearing trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, there were 
the Hibiscus, Pandanus odoratissime, the Ohia, a tree 
producing plentifully a juicy, pulpy, but rather insipid 
fruit, red, and of the size of an apple; the Mairi, a very 
fragrant plant, from which wreathes were made; the 
Ohelo, a shrub bearing abundantly edible berries, and 
which belonged in an especial manner to the goddess of 
the volcano. Pels ; the prickly pear, &c. Strawberries and 
raspberries were plentiful on the highlands of Hawaii— 
their fruit large, but inferior in flavour to the British 
kinds. From the Kukui was obtained a useful oil ; from 
the sweet potato, an intoxicating drink; and they had 
the Gao^denia among the flowers with which they were 
accustomed to adorn themselves. On the whole, how- 
ever, vegetation was not so bountiful in this group as in 
the Society Islands. 

Three indigenous plants require special notice from 
their extreme value and importance to the natives. 
The first is the taro {Arum esculentum). It formed 
the staple of their food, and is still very generally used 



D 2 



36 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



This succulent root was sometimes cooked, but was more 
generally pounded into a semi-fluid mess, and a lowed 
partially to ferment, when it was called P- Among 
The reasons which made some Hawaiians object to visit- 
t Enjland was that poi could not be obtained here 
ki requires very industrious cultivation. It is grown 
fn^i^sl beds,4tvery wef butunder <^S^f^^ 
it is so productive that it has been said a too pit 
a few yarfs in length will supply food for one man 
throughout the year. Beeohey says* that at the time 
Tu: visit to L Hawaiian Islands, ' On gaming the 
heights at Oahu, extensive taro plantations were seen 
Sg every valley; and Oahu was distinguished by the 
name of the Garden of the Sandwich Islands. 

Another esculent arum, the mountain taro, grows 
on the higher ground, and in very dry soil. Its value is 

ThnStot mentioned is the cloth-plant iMo^^s 

papyrifera), in the native tongue '^"^f- JT^ Z^ 
fnner bark of the young shoots were made the fine and 
very beautiful cloths for which the islands were famous 
The osier-like plants are very carefully tended and 
when the rods springing from the roots attained the 
Ten^ of ten or twelve feet, which they did m a year 
or dghteen months, they were cut, at a certain season ; 
and by careful and delicate processes, the inner bark or 
Uber Ls separated-, and women, sometimes a chiefess 
anrher femal attendants, aevoted themselves to make 
fiom it tapa, or cloth, of various degrees of fineness. 
Bleating i with a mallet, having ditferen patterns 
S.S onlts four faces, several varieties of cloth we ^ 
produced. These formed the pan, or women s garment, 

. .Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific,' &c., vol. i. 316. 



J5ATIVE MANUFACTUEES. 37 

reaching from the waist nearly to the ancles; the maro, 
or narrow cloth worn by the men round the loins; the 
sleeping-cloths of the chiefs, &c." The people had a 
method of printing the tapa with very beautiful colours, 
derived from vegetables and earth; and they even 
scented the somewhat scanty habiliments of the female 
with sandal wood and pandanus seeds. 

The last indigenous plant of importance is the ti 
(Draccena). Its leaves are used in thatching houses and 
huts, and were also employed for symbolical purposes 
connected with religion and tabu. A branch of this 
plant was the emblem of peace, corresponding with the 
olive of Europe. In times of war it was carried, to- 
gether with a young plantain tree, as a flag of truce. 
Its lustrous green leaves woven by their stalks formed 
a short cloak used by the islanders in their mountain 
journeys. It was planted round inclosures, its inter- 
twined stems forming a valuable permanent hedge. Its 
roots, large, woody, and fusiform, were baked and eaten. 
When macerated and fermented there is produced from 
them an intoxicating drink. Another plant, the Atva 
{Piper mythysticum), yields a beverage still more potent, 
and has been a constant subject of legislation and police. 
The effects of azoa do not end in inebriation; it possesses 
curative powers in disease, audits action, from Beechey's 
account, is very remarkable in obstinate cutaneous dis- 
orders.* Ellis also thinks it an excellent antiscorbutic. 
Vancouver, in 1792—93, introduced cattle in the 
islands ; and various useful seeds were given to the 
natives by that great and generous navigator. From that 
time foreign animals and plants have been imported. 
Large herds of cattle are now grazed, and a very proiit- 

* ' ^''arratire of a Voyage to the Pacific, 1831.' Vol. ii. 120. 



38 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

able trade was, till lately, carried on in supplying the 
merchant shipping and whalers with beef, which is also 
exported to California. Flocks, too, are raised, but sheep 
are not always successful; the temperature of the low- 
lands being too high for their proper habitude. They 
answer better in the mountain districts; but the Ha- 
waiians are not fond of the hills as a residence, with 
their chill and showers. Horses have multiplied since 
their introduction with extraordinary rapidity. Numbers 
of them roam about at their own sweet will, breaking 
fences and treading down crops, having lost a good deal 
of their equine civilization, and re-entered on a semi- 
savage state. There is almost a plague of horses in 
Oahu, and their abundance has encouraged a passion in 
both sexes for furious riding, dangerous in itself, and to 
one part of the community very detrimental. It is not 
to be wondered at that a people whose former delight 
was in war, who would fight without armour, and make 
a single battle last eight days ; who, at the present time, 
for their pleasure plunge down waterfalls, swim amongst 
the breakers that burst over the reefs, and fight sharks 
in single combat, should seize on a new muscular ex- 
citement with animation, and ride the last hobby nearly 
to death. If nine-tenths of the common horses now 
on the islands were destroyed it would prove a great 
advantage to the inhabitants. 

The table of Inland Eevenue for 1860 gives 27,663 
horses returned for taxation ; and we may conclude the 
actual number to have been greater, when we consider 
the nature of the return. If to the horses be added 
2781 mules, we have one animal to nearly every two 
persons in the Hawaiian Islands. The value of horses 
fluctuates a good deal: sometimes they fetch a fair 
price, up to about a hundred dollars. The supply must 



EXOTIC INTRODUCTIONS. 39 

occasionally exceed the demand ; and a sale of stock 
was noticed in the * Polynesian ' lately, in which a 
mare and two fillies were sold for a quarter of a 
dollar — about one shilling I A moderate price for 
horse-flesh in any country. 

Among exotic plants introduced, the most important 
are the coffee-tree, cotton, indigo, tobacco, wheat, the 
Irish potato, cocoa, the grape-vine, orange, citron, 
melon, cucumber, pine-apple, fig, tamarind, guava, 
and various fruits; beans, onions, cabbages, pumpkin, 
and other vegetables. Coffee has thriven well, and 
forms a valuable article of export from the islands, 
where there are now large, well-cultivated plantations. 
The berry is of a fine kind, but for a few years past a 
blight, produced by an insect of the coccinea tribe, has 
injured the trees and greatly reduced the crop. Indigo 
grows freely, and some specimens or samples of the dye 
have been sent to Hamburg ; but the article was badly 
made and the quality was too inferior to encourage its 
manufacture. The silk-worm may some day be tended 
successfully, and the mulberry flourishes well. Wheat 
and potatoes thrive on the uplands of Maui ; the sweet 
potato is indigenous. 

Commerce is carried on to some extent with most 
parts of the world. About four-tenths of the imports 
are from the Atlantic side of the United States, and 
about one-fourth is from the Pacific coasts of North 
America. Grreat Britain stands next in order; then 
Hamburg and Bremen ; China and Japan each send 
their contingent of merchandise ; France furnishes her 
wines and brandy ; and by the custom-house returns for 
the year 1860, goods were entered at Honolulu from 
Vancouver's Island, the Kussian possessions, Tahiti, 
Chili, and some other places. Gruano was brought from 



40 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the Chincha Islands, and from some islands named 
Baker's and Jarvis's, a few days' sail from Hawaii. 

The commerce of the islands was formerly dependent 
in a great measure on the whaling trade of the North 
Pacific. A large quantity of oil and bone is landed and re- 
exported. In 1860, the transhipments of oil from Hono- 
lulu and Lahaina were 829,945 gallons, and of whalebone 
571,966 lbs. The total number of whalers entering 
Hawaiian ports in that year was 325 vessels ; but several 
ships made their appearance at more than one port, 
and are entered for the spring and fall seasons. The 
actual number of separate whalers engaged during the 
autumn or fall of 1860 was 132 ; of which nine belonged 
to the Hawaiian Islands, and 113 were American owned. 
The fishery had been comparatively an unsuccessful 
one. In the previous year the quantities of oil and 
bone had respectively exceeded those of 1860 by 86,256 
gallons of the former article, and 20,522 lbs. of the latter. 
The total number of whalers visiting the Hawaiian 
ports in 1859 was 549 visits, against 325 visits in 1860. 
The failing of the ' catch ' in the North Pacific does 
not appear to be a temporary fluctuation, but has indi- 
cated itself for three successive seasons. The whales 
appear to have been over-fished — a consequence of the 
great profits made by vessels employed in this trade in 
the previous years — and to have migrated to other seas. 
In 1864, the whaling trade was still farther diminished. 
The whole number of visits in Hawaiian ports was 140 ; 
and the transhipments were — 

Sperm oil . . . . 33,860 gallons 
Whale oil . . . . 608,502 gallons 
Bone 339,381 lbs. 

Of domestic exports (exclusive of oil and bone) sugar, 



TABLE OF EXPORTS. 



41 



wool, hides, and coffee are the most important. The 
following table shows the nature and quantities of 
Hawaiian productions shipped at Honolulu in 1864 : — 



Sugar . . 10,414,441 lbs., or 4,649 


tons 


Molasses and syrup 


. 340,436 


gallons 


Coffee .... 


50,083 


lbs. 


Pulu* 


. 643,437 


lbs. 


Hides .... 


. 355,651 


lbs. 


Beef .... 


. 64 


barrels 


Poif .... 


. 271 


barrels 


Salt .... 


. 729 


tons 


Flour .... 


1,298 


barrels 


Sweet potatoes 


. 419 


barrels 


Fungus J 


. 368,835 


lbs. 


Plorses 


5 




Mules 


. 24 




Wool .... 


. 196,667 


lbs. 


Tallow 


. 189,700 


lbs. 


Whale and Sperm oil . 


. 131,383 


gallons 


Whalebone . 


45,402 


lbs. 


Goat skins .... 


32,333 




Horns .... 


6,610 




Tobacco .... 


. 500 


lbs. 


Pumpkins .... 


. 475 




Paddy . . . . 


105,320 


lbs. 


Eice ..... 


31^*,835 


lbs. 


Corn ..... 


78,455 


lbs. 


Cotton .... 


2,518 


lbs. 


Tapioca .... 


7,688 


lbs. 


Pia 


. 100 


lbs. 



^ A silky substance, collected from the trunks of the large tree-ferns 
which abound on the island of Hawaii. It has been used for centuries 
by the natives for making pillows and mattresses, and is now exported 
to California and British Columbia for the same purpose. 

t Preparation from the taro root. 

\ Used as an article of food by the Chinese. 



42 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



Pork . 


• • * 


. 11 


barrels 


Bones 


• • * 


. 20i 


tons 


Beche de Mer 


• • • 


. 7,135 


lbs. 


Oranges 


, 61 boxes and 


61,000 




Limes 


27 packages and 77,000 




Coker-nuts . 


• • * 


17,491 




Bananas 


. 14 packages and 1,784 


bunches 


Tamarinds . 


. 6 casks and 164 


lbs. 


Su^ar cane 


20 bundles and 500 


sticks 


Pea-niits . 


. . • ' 


18 


bags 


Pine -apples 


^ • « 


500 




Taro . 


« • • 


6 


casks 


Chinese Edible Eoots . 


. 166 


packages 


Butter 


• • • 


. 220 


lbs. 


Bread 




. 572 


lbs. 


Soap . 




. 600 


lbs. 


Rags . 




, 1,696 


lbs. 


Koa Wood 




. 600 


feet 


Sandal Wood 




. 6,008 


lbs. 


Besides curiosities and sundries. 







The supplies furnished in the course of the year to the 
shipping which visited the port, are estimated at 
,^113,100 value. 

In 1860, the whole commerce of the country showed 
a decrease on the preceding year— the defect arising 
from a less successful whaling season, a drought affecting 
the sugar plantations, and a blight in the coffee-trees. 
The total value of the imports in 1859, was ^1, 555,558 ; 
in I860, ;^1,223,749 ; showing a falling off of a quarter 
of a million of dollars. The export trade suffered also, 
but in a smaller ratio. In 1859, the value of goods ex- 
ported was 1931,329; in 1860, |f807,459 ; exhibiting 
a decrease in value of ,^123,870. 

The causes which led to a decline in Hawaiian com- 
merce were natural ones, and temporary ; whilst increas- 



COMMERCE. 



43 



ing relations with California, British Columbia, China, 
and Japan, are opening out new markets of export and 
import. So that in 1 8 64, the total imports had increased 
again to ;^1,7 12,241 ; and the exports, of still greater 
importance to the prosperity of the country, had grown 
up to ^$'1,113,329. The following table, derived from 
the custom-house statistics, shows the value and origin 
of imports in 1864 : — 



VALUE OF GOODS PAYING DUTY. 



From the United States, Pacific 
side .... 

the United States, Atlantic 
side . 

Bremen . 

Great Britain . 

Vancouver's Island 

the Sea . 

the Islands of the Pacific 

Mexico . 



M 



57 



r 



>» 



)? 



J? 



>) 



^519,243 09 

99,966 32 

183,872 15 

86,049 60 

54,153 47 

9,187 13 

16,822 55 

•537 50 



-^969,831 81 



VALUE OF GOODS AND SPIRITS BONDED. 



From the United States, Pacific 
side .... 

the United States, Atlantic 
side . 

Bremen ... 

Great Britain . 

Vancouver's Island . 

the Sea . 

the Islands of the Pacific 

Sitka 

France . 



J5 



J7 



^32,880 57 

119,134 51 

45,607 66 

1,134 44 

17,046 36 

291,959 10 

7,392 99 

22,682 70 

156 37 



-;$537,994 70 



44 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



VALUE IMPORTED FREE OF DUTY. 



By animals . . . • 


^958 


00 




,, curiosities . . . • 


65 


00 




,, diplomatic representatives 


2,888 


02 




„ goods, old and in use . 


3,920 


62 




„ Hawaiian Government . 


3,710 


49 




„ „ whalers 


93,728 


79 




,, foreign . . . • 


9,481 


44 




„ His Majesty. 


2,014 


00 




„ machinery . 


55,491 


00 




„ pig and plate iron 


4,834 


02 




,, pictures . . . . 


1,036 


45 




,, plants and seeds . 


202 


50 




„ returned cargo 


1,591 


41 




„ specie . . 


. 112,782 


48 




,, Steam Navigation Company 


. 4,071 


42 




„ sundries by permission . ' 


. 3,653 


19 




,, tools, specific use . . 


. 1,691 


01 




„ statuary 


125 


00 


36 






jOj J. O i/jTlUA/ 


f-/ \j 






^1,697,288 


87 


Free. 


Dutiable. * 




Imports at Lahaina ^1,006 23 


P53 


64 




„ Hilo . 2,491 34 


10,240 


38 




Kauai . 346 39 


14 


76 




3,843 96 


11,108 


78 






3,843 


96 








HM O^'^ 


74. 






^14, JJ^ 


i ^ 


Total .... 


• 


. ^1,712,241 


61 



About 1000 of the natives are usually absent from 
their country, engaged in the whaling trade at sea, or on 
the guano islands of the Pacific. 

The average passage of sailing vessels, from San 
Francisco to Honolulu, between the 1st of October and 



COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 45 

1st of January, is sixteen days; the average voyage 
from Victoria, Vancouver's Island, is twenty-seven days ; 
from Kanagawa, Japan, twenty-six days ; and from 
Hong-Kong, sixty-seven days and a half. 

The merchant-fleet under the Hawaiian flag, in 1860, 
coDsisted of one steamer, the Kilauea, of 414 tons 
burthen and 100-horse power; eleven whalers, with 
a total tonnage of 2303 tons ; seven foreign traders, 
aggregate, 1426 tons ; and thirty -two coasters, schooners, 
and sloops, together 1475 tons. The G-overnment owns 
a steam-tug, the Pele, of 30-horse power. 

In 1864, the number of Hawaiian-owned merchant- 
vessels calling at all the ports of the islands was forty- 
four, tonnage 8982 tons ; foreign ships 270, tonnage 
141,804 tons: of which thirty-six vessels were English 
and 200 were American. Of ships of war visiting 
Hawaii two were British and four were Eussian. 

Treaties of commerce exist between Hawaii and the 
following nations : — Grreat Britain and France, made 
in 1846; Denmark, in 1846; Hamburg, in 1848; 
United States, in 1850; Bremen, in 1851; Sweden 
and Norway, in 1852 ; new treaty with Grreat Britain, 
in 1851 ; new treaty with France, in 1857. In 1860, 
the admiral commanding the Eussian fleet in the Pacific 
visited Honolulu, and a treaty with Eussia will pro- 
bably result from the communications which then took 
place ; probably, also, with Japan, the ambassadors of 
which nation stayed at Honolulu for nearly a fortnight, 
on their way to Washington. 

The Hawaiian G-overnment is represented by consular 
agents in Grreat Britain, France, Italy, Chili, Australia, 
New Zealand, China, Japan, and the Eussian settlements 
on the Amoor. 



46 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

OUE KOYAL CITY OF HONOLULU. 

MOST of the views which we have seen of the city 
of Honolulu have this grave fault, that they 
have evidently been taken before the city was erected. 
They usually represent a good deal of mountain in 
the background, and in front a large expanse of 
^yater;— the harbour, bearing upon it a considerable 
amount of shipping ;— but they omit the buildings. 
The photographic view of Honolulu, from which the 
wood-cut given in this volume is taken, is compara- 
tively modern ; but even this scarcely gives the idea 
of a^ city containing 12,000 inhabitants,— the metro- 
polis of the North Pacific. It rather recalls those 
pictures we are so accustomed to in our water-colour 
exhibitions, where, under the catalogue name of ' View 
of Calais, with Fishing-Boats,' we see a brilliantly 
coloured chasse-maree occupying the foreground, and 
the town of Calais represented in a small corner by a 
white windmill and a couple of boarding-houses. 

Few cities have a more noble situation than Honolulu. 
In approaching it from the south-west, the island of 
Oahu presents a very picturesque appearance. A chain 
of lofty hills, stretching from north-west to south-east, 
is the most prominent object inland. A remarkable 
point of land closes in the bay at its lower extremity. 




p 
p 

Hi 

o 

O 

W 

(2 
P 

O 
M 
03 
<J 

w 

w 
w 



SITUATION OF HONOLULU. 47 

It is a long hill, truncated above ; which, while it shows 
seaward a peak, named Diamond Head, when seen from 
the town, or from the south-eastern direction at sea, 
looks like a straight, detached ridge, a little elevated at 
its end. The particular form of this promontory results 
from its volcanic origin. Another remarkable hill of 
the same character, crowned with a battery, guards the 
entrance of the smaller bay which forms the harbour of 
Honolulu. At the foot of the mountains extends a 
fertile plain, ten miles in length, and, in parts, two miles 
in width from the sea to the base of the hills. On this 
plain Honolulu is built. The remarkable shapes of 
the mountains, torn by ravines or divided by green 
valleys, and of the plain also, unmistakeably speak the 
fiery agencies which produced them. Those agencies 
were exerted at a very ancient period. The substratum 
of the plain is a deposited calcareous rock, containing 
bones of animals and fish, marine shells, and branches 
of white coral. This rock is hardest at its upper ex- 
tremity, and becomes softer and more porous as its 
depth increases. Above the chalk lies a laver of fine 
volcanic ashes and cinders ; and over all a rich alluvial 
soil of the depth of two or three feet. By boring little 
more than a dozen feet into the chalk stratum excel- 
lent water is obtained. It is a remarkable circumstance 
that though the water in the wells rises and falls with 
the tide, — showing that it reaches them by infiltration 
from the sea— it is never salt or brackish to the taste. 
The city is, therefore, blest with great * water privileges,' 
and a corresponding facility for drainage. It is built 
round the harbour, which possesses quays and warehouses 
and slips for heaving up and repairing ships. Near it 
are the custom-house, and a large building containino- 
the public offices. There is also the fort, which at 



48 HAWAIIAtf ISLANDS. 

the time of Beechey's visit, mounted forty guns ; but has 
now been dismantled, and applied to other government 

uses. 

The central portion of the town consists of regularly 
laid out streets, many of the houses standing within 
gardens. There are two stone churches, belonging to 
the American Congregationalists ; a Native church ; and 
the Eoman Catholic Cathedral. A distinguishing feature 
of Honolulu is, that this large town is built without a 
single chimney:— a cheerful city, under its brilliant, 
unclouded sky ; the blue sea spreading at its feet, with 
a silvery line of breakers on the distant reef. The masts 
of shipping in the port rise into view above the spread- 
ing roofs of the houses and stores; the flags on the 
fort and at the consulates flutter in the fanning breeze ; 
and the sound of hammers, — welcome indication and 
type of industry,— comes from the shipyards of the 
harbour. People of all nations are meeting in the 
wide streets; English, American, French, G-erman, 
Chinese, South Polynesians, are represented here ; busy 
with commerce, with politics, with dinner at the very 
excellent hotels, or, in that rest-inviting climate, busy 
doing nothing. The Queen's Hospital is to be visited ; 
or a salute from the battery on Punch-bowl Hill an- 
nounces that a foreign man-of-war, — in the neater 
American form, a national ship, — has arrived. Numbers 
of Hawaiians, more or less in European dress, fill the 
streets, giving a smile and the cheerful aloha, or 
greeting, as they pass you. Women bring in plantains, 
and oranges, or the delicious chirimoya, from gardens ; 
vegetables, and fish, and taro roots. The younger 
women, though they have thrown off idolatry and thrown 
on some clothes, must still crown themselves with flowing 
chaplets as of old. They have discarded many things. 



HONOLULU. 49 



but cannot abandon that graceful taste and apprecia- 
tion of nature which led them to deck thero selves 

both sexes occasionally, — with perfumed and many- 
coloured blossoms, formed in elegant wreaths. 

Look, too, at these large placards; the Eoyal Ha- 
waiian Theatre is open this evening. Grreat stars are 
announced,— brilliant stars ; though, like those of the 
Southern Cross, unknown in our northern hemisphere. 
The Equestrian Circus also invites to its new and amaz- 
ing ' acts,' and it will not be left empty by a people 
so devoted to horse-flesh. See, now, even whilst we 
speak, how many riders of both sexes the eye takes in, 
as one looks along the road ! and we must take care 
that we are not ridden down, for the police, with all 
their care, cannot prevent the inconvenience of occa- 
sional racing in the streets. There seems an unusual 
stir in the streets to-day; a greater than ordinary 
crowd. Many country people are flocking in ; and that 
salute meant something more than the arrival of a na- 
tional ship in the harbour. Let us walk onward, and 
inquire what this gala appearance means : for flags are 
flying, and we hear music at a distance. We can 
inquire here at the office of the ' Hawaiian Grazette,' 
an excellently conducted weekly newspaper, and the 
Grovernment official or semi-official organ. Nearly vis-a- 
vis is the bureau of the ' Commercial Advertiser,' also 
a weekly journal, in English, devoted to the interests 
of the American missionaries; and claiming, by its 
generally adverse criticisms on ministers and measures, 
to occupy, in the room of any senatorial body, the 
place of * His Majesty's Opposition.' The same party 
have also a monthly publication, of many years' 
standing, ' The Friend.' We remark, in passing, that two 
newspapers in the vernacular make their appearance 



50 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

in Honolulu,^tlie ' Hae Haiuaii; weekly, and the 
' Hokuloa; monthly ; a third paper, upon liberal prin- 
ciples, has lately been added, named ' The Star of the 

Pacific' 

The animation of the capital is soon accounted for ; 
it is the 9th of February, and the King's birthday, who 
completes this morning his twenty- seventh year.* We 
learn that there has been already a reception at the 
Palace. His Majesty was attended by his executive and 
judicial officers;* the members of the Privy Council; 
the Governors of Oahu and Maui ; his Aides-de-camp, 
&c. And first, the Chancellor and Chief-Justice ap- 
proached, and in the name of himself and his fellows of 
the ermine robe offered, in a few loyal and pious words, 
sincere congratulations on the day. Then the diplo- 
matic body arrived, headed by M. Perrin, who, as senior 
of the foreign representatives, presented, in French, 
their felicitations. General Miller, the British Com- 
missioner, being absent from the islands, sent a written 
address, which was read by the King's Foreign Minister. 
The Consular body next expressed the kind feelings of 
their respective governments. The King replied, seve- 
rally, to the addresses, shortly, and with that good taste 
which characterises His Majesty's communications. 

As the day advances the town puts on a completely 
gala look. It announces for itself a national holiday; 
' covers itself with flags ; fires more salutes ; and expa- 
tiates in picnic parties, in races, in amusements. Now 
we see a procession coming from the direction of the 
Palace. After the judiciary and foreign services had 
had their audience, the King received a very important 

* This passage was written in 1862. The scene is aUowed to remain 
without shifting, but death has made sad havoc with the actors, m the 
interval. 



THE EOTAL FAMILY. 51 

domestic body,— the Fire Department of Honolulu ; the 
members of which, after passing. before His Majesty, 
tersely expressed their joy in three hearty cheers. In 
the United States, the functions of the community for 
protecting their cities from fire have been wisely ele- 
vated into an unpaid and honourable service. The 
citizens who thus band themselves together against fire 
as a threatening enemy, are actuated in the same 
manner as our Eifle Volunteers, and evince a similar 
corporate spirit. The Hawaiians have adopted the same 
organization of Fire Companies, and hold them in the 
same honour as in the States. Now the procession 
appears. Three Engine Companies, with engines and 
hose-carts ; and one ' Hook-and-Ladder' Company, with 
fire-wardens and engineers, all in uniform ; and the 
engines decked with flowers, ribbons, and flags. A boy 
rides on each engine, buried among the blossoms, like a 
young Love ; and on the carriage of the ^Hooks,' beneath 
a floral canopy, sit two pretty children, in gala.^ dress ; 
but whether to impersonate the genius of fire and water,' 
or lively to represent a ' hook ' and a ' ladder, ' is left 
undetermined. The city numbers four Fire Companies ; 
and 140 of their associated members are now doincr' 
honour to their sovereign. ° 

Whilst the 140, and some other guests, after their pro- 
gress through the streets of Honolulu, are gone to lunch 
in the rooms of No. 1 Engine, let us direct our steps to 
the Palace, which they have lately left. The reception 
is over ; and we guess, by some vivas at a distance, 
that the royal family are driving, and are coming this 
way. Preceded by two outriders, in an open carriage, 
—the most elegant that London can turn out— sits the 
Queen,— fair and young, with an engaging expression 
of face. Her embonpoint makes Her Majesty appear 

E 2 



52 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

some years older than she really is. A noble boy, the 
Prince of Hawaii, sits opposite his mother ; and the 
King, on horseback, in a field-marshal's uniform, follows 
the carriage. Very heartfelt are the alohas which greet 
the modest cortege as it passes. 

We enter the open gates of the Palace enclosure and 
find ourselves in a garden, or pleasure-grounds, of about 
an acre, with an avenue leading through it formed by the 
deep creen-leafed kulad and koa trees. A flight of steps 
leads to a large hall, decorated in the European style. 
Portraits of King Louis Philippe and his queen, presented 
by the French monarch to Kamehameha III., hang 
on the walls ; and also a likeness of the late Admiral 
Thomas, for whom, as the medium through which the 
sovereignty of the islands was restored to their own 
rulers, after Lord George Paulet's possession of them, 
the nkwaiians have always entertained feelings of the 
deepest regard. Vases and miniature copies of some of 
Thorwaldsen's works ornament the hall. The left wing 
of the small, sunny Palace is occupied by the throne- 
room. This apartment has a completely European 
air, and resembles a drawing-room in London or Paris, 
with the addition of a decorated chair at one of its sides, 
the modest throne of the djmasty— 

' Simplex munditiis.' 

Another room contains a very beautiful billiard-table, 
also a present from the late King of the French ; and 
the present Emperor, - -not behind. his predecessor m 
making rich donations,— has recently sent the Kmg a 

large service of silver. 

' On a small scale, ' said King Kamehameha IIL to 
Mr Hill, when the latter was presented to him m 1849, 
^ I am endeavouring to do, with the blessing of God, 
what Peter the Great, of Russia, did on a large scale.' 



NUUANU VALLEY. < 53 

Suffice it to say of the Palace, without tedious de- 
scription, that it is appropriate, and is in proportion to 
the kingdom and the capital of the islands ; and in this 
it differs from the royal residences in some of the small 
Grerman States, where the palace occupies half the 
town, and its gardens a quarter of the territory. 

And now to horse ; and let us do what several others 
are already doing this afternoon, ride over the plain be- 
hind Honolulu, and up the Nuuanu valley. There we 
shall be refreshed and invigorated by the moving air 
breathed at a higher elevation. The road leads across 
the plain, which is level and fertile, but shows the scars 
of ancient disturbance in some occasional ravines. Pro- 
ceeding along this highway, which is in places planted 
with trees and dotted with houses and villas, we reach, 
at less than a mile's distance, the hills, rising on each 
hand, and forming at their interspace the winding vale 
through which a river reaches the sea. The mouth of 
the valley, says Mr. Ellis, which opens immediately 
behind the town, is a complete garden, carefully kept 
by its respective proprietors in a state of high cultiva- 
tion ; and the ground being irrigated by the water from 
a river that winds rapidly down the valley, is remarkably 
productive. The valley rises with a gradual ascent ; 
and after walking about three miles through an un- 
broken series of plantation, it becomes gradually nar- 
rower, and the mountains rise more steeply on either side. 
The scenery is romantic and delightful. The bottom 
of the valley is gently undulated ; and a rapid stream 
takes its serpentine way from one side'of it to the other, 
sometimes wandering along with an unruffled surface, 
at other times rushing down a fall of several feet, or 
dashing and foaming among the rocks that interrupt 
its progress. The sides of the hills are clothed with 



54 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

verdure ; even the barren rocks that project from among 
the bushes are ornamented with pendulous or creeping 
plants of various kinds ; and in several places beautiful 
cascades leap down the steep mountain's side into flow- 
ing rivulets beneath. The beauty of the scenery in- 
creases, until at length, after walking some time on 
a rising ground rather more steep than usual, and 
through a thicket of hibiscus and other trees, the 
wanderer suddenly emerges into an open space, and as 
he turns round a small pile of volcanic rocks, the famous 
Pali, or precipice, bursts upon him with an almost over- 
powering effect. The distance of this remarkable spot 
from the city is seven or eight miles. Immense masses 
of black and ferruginous rock, many hundred feet in 
height, and nearly perpendicular, present themselves on 
both sides to his sight, while immediately before him, 
he looks down the fearful steep, and beholds hills and 
valleys, trees and cottages, wandering streams and 
winding paths, cultivated plantations and untrodden 
thickets, and a varied landscape many miles in extent, 
bounded by lofty mountains on the one side and the 
white-crested waves of the ocean on the other, spread 
out before him as if by the hand of enchantment. The 
natives ascend the precipice from the northern side, 
the height being about 500 feet, sometimes carrying 
considerable weights ; but the ascent and descent are 
difficult.* In two places near the highest edge the 
rocks rise with an apparently perpendicular and even 
projecting point, which, it seems to the traveller, im- 

^ A contributor to the ' Commercial Advertiser' gives a grapliie de- 
scription of a party of women he met several miles north of Honolnlu, 
who were bringing to market an immense hog which they had fattened, 
and which he estimated to weigh nearly 500 lbs. This unwieldy 
animal had to be carried up the pali by the five or six females who had 
charge of it. 



THE PALI. 55 

possible to surmount. Two idols stood beside the path, 
in former days tutelars of the dangerous pass. These 
were propitiated by those intending to descend the 'pali 
by a garland of flowers, a piece of ta-pa (cloth), or the 
oblation of a green bough only: whilst those who 
had effected the ascent in safety, made an acknowledg- 
ment of a similar kind for the supposed protection which 
they had received from these idol deities. The lines 
which separate piety and superstition are not strongly 
marked; and if the heart were grateful, it wanted but 
additional light as to the object of adoration to cod- 
vert a heathen impulse into a Christian act of devotion. 
Ellis makes a remark which shows an enlightened 
tolerance and moderation not always mingled with 
missionary zeal. He says his converted native guides 
used to overturn or break these presiding idols, which 
are found at all dangerous passes, or they would roll 
them down the pali : — ' but their conduct was never 
the consequence of our directions, and seldom received 
our approbation ; for we were not desirous to become 
inconoclasts : our object was rather to enlighten the 
minds of the people, to lead them to the exercise of 
a better faith, and the adoption of a purer worship.' 
He probably even thought that till the true sunlight 
had risen en their night they had better not extinguish 
the taper which was their only guide. 

The Pali of Nuuanu was an important strategic posi- 
tion, and is a spot of historical celebrity. Several battles 
have been fought in its neighbourhood; and in 1790, 
it was the scene of the last battle fought between the 
King of Oahu and the great warrior Kamehameha I., 
who had invaded his island, and who finally subdued the 
whole group under his single sovereignty. The King 
of Oahu, with his ally Kaeo, King of Kauai and Niihau, 



56 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

had assembled his forces a few miles north-west of 
Honolulu. His army having been defeated in an en- 
gagement with the invader's forces, and Kaeo slain, 
he retreated to the valley of Nuuanu, where he was 
joined by an ambitious chief of Hawaii, named Taiana. 
Taking their stand two miles from the precipice, they 
awaited the victorious Kamehameha ; but they could 
not resist the momentum of the body of his troops. 
The King of Oahu fell, and his broken army was 
chased wildly up the valley. Once more rallied by the 
warlike Taiana, the patriots turned to bay. Before 
them were the war-gods of the enemy, behind them the 
sheer destruction of the pali. Taiana fell. After the 
death of their chiefs, Despair was the leader of that 
gallant and diminished band. What was in man's 
command they did. Four hundred warriors were driven 
headlong over the precipice and dashed to pieces at its 
base among the rocks. The rest of the little army was 
entirely routed, and Kamehameha the conqueror was left 
undisputed sovereign of the island. 

In the month of March 1860, the city of Honolulu 
was startled out of its proprieties by the arrival of the 
Japanese Embassy, on its way to Washington. The 
sudden influx of eighty distinguished foreigners was an 
event sufficient to tax the resources of etiquette. Baron 
Merten and Elliot were consulted. All that the former 
authority affords of the usages observed at a solemn 
audience given to an ambassador or nuncio of the Pope 
was digested, and made the groundwork of the reception 
of these Eastern visitors. The royal remise was searched, 
and every practicable carriage found therein was sent 
down, together with a guard of honour, to escort to the 
Palace the two Ambassadors and their suite, with Ad- 
miral Tattnall, commanding the United States East 



VISIT OF THE JAPANESE A:MBASSAD0ES. 57 

India squadron. Captain Pearson, and the other officers 
of the Powhattan steam frigate. The civilities on each 
side were completely en regie. An audience of the 
servants of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan was 
appointed for two o'clock of the 9th of March. On the 
arrival of the United States officers at the Palace 
grounds, they were received at the lower gate by the 
King's household troops on duty, and at the Palace 
stairs by the Honolulu Eifles. The gallant Admiral 
and suite, having been introduced by Mr. Wyllie, 
Minister of Foreign Relations, were presented to the 
Kjng by the United States Commissioner, Mr. Borden. 
The Legation from the Tycoon then arrived, and was 
received at the foot of the stairs by Mr. Wyllie and 
other officers of the King. His Majesty welcomed 
them to his Court; and the Ambassadors expressed 
their acknowledgments, — the conversation being con- 
ducted in Dutch, with the assistance of an English 
interpreter. The King then retired; and Her Majesty 
Queen Emma entered the throne-room, accompanied 
by the Princess Victoria, and attended by her ladies 
and maids of honour, and with her usual grace received 
the Ambassadors and the officers, asked their impressions 
of her country, &c. ; and the ceremonies terminated. 

The high courtesies were continued the same after- 
noon. The Ambassadors sent, through the American 
Commissioner, some presents to the King. In acknow- 
ledging these, the Foreign Minister was ' happy to have 
the opportunity of again assuring their Excellencies of 
the very high respect and very distinguished considera- 
tion with which he had the honour to be,' &c. ; and a 
few days later, the Minister wrote a despatch, in which 
the King proposes that a treaty should be at once 
made, conditionally on after ratification, * of perpetual 



68 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

friendship, commerce, and navigation,' between Japan 
and Hawaii. To this despatch, Sinmi Bozenno Cami, 
First Ambassador; Mooragaki Awageno Cami, Second 
Ambassador ; and Ogooli Bungono Cami, First Asso- 
ciate and Eemembrancer, — being three princes, — reply, 
on ' the 25th day of second month of the seventh year 
of Ansey, ' — a date difficult for the historian to syn- 
chronise with our own era, but probably shortly after 
Mr. Wyllie's despatch,— that they could not conclude 
such a treaty under their powers, and that, therefore, 
the despatch would be forwarded to Japan. 

Not but that the two-sworded princes were ready ^ to 
swear eternal friendship on the stairs ;' for they received 
the kindest hospitality from the King, who placed his 
house in Beritania Street at the disposal of the Ambas- 
sadors, and his marine villa at the command of the 
Admiral. The following sequence of adjectives will 
describe the Japanese Embassy, — quick, intelligent, 
and inquisitive ; possessed of a curiosity constant and 
vivacious ; polite, affable, and patient under the corre- 
sponding curiosity exhibited by the Hawaiians towards 
them. They inspected every object, inquired into it, 
described it, and sketched it, — an accomplished 
draughtsman forming one of the suite. 

Other calls of ceremony and of kindness having 
been made, the Japanese, after a stay in the islands of 
about ten days, prepared to depart; and a P.P.C. 
audience was held at the Palace. If Austria piques 
herself on the Vienna code of etiquette, she will learn 
in Japan a transcendental rigueur which quite eclipses 
her own. The First Ambassador commenced a graceful 
acknowledgment of all the attentions shown to himself 
and his suite ; and having spoken two or three sentences, 
he was so overcome by his feelings, — no doubt at the 




p 

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P 
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A JAPANESE LEAVE-TAKING. 59 

exact place indicated in his instructions, — that his voice 
shrank up to a piping treble, and he had to conclude 
his speech in a suffocating whisper. So contagious 
is deep feeling, that all the suite were affected in the 
same manner and at the same moment, and could only 
whisper their adieux, interrupted by their sighs. 
And so they departed. 



60 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER V. 

DEKIVATIONS OF THE HAWAIIAN EACE — TRADITIONS OF. 

FEW persons, probably, who walk in G-reenwich Park, 
realize to themselves, as they pass Flamsteed House, 
that they have stepped from one hemisphere of the 
globe into another. Yet the meridian of zero is of 
great geographical importance ; and the line which bi- 
sects the earth longitudinally gives us the definite idea 
of an eastern and a western world. Great Britain is con- 
tained in the western hemisphere ; for the convenience 
of which statement, we overlook the kingdom of Kent, 
the Eastern Counties, etc., which lie eastward of this 
imaginary line. And since the western world is our 
world, the Hawaiian Islands claim to have a geographi- 
cal kindred with us, for they, too, are situated in the 
western hemisphere. 

From the east or from the west the population of 
those islands has been derived ; the only other solution 
of the question of origin being that of ' Centres of Cre- 
ation,' a hypothesis which finds favour in the United 
States. We do not enter upon this theory ; but seek in 
personal similitude, in analogies of language and insti- 
tutions and in cherished traditions, to identify the 
Hawaiians with one of the divisional races of men, and 
to trace the steps across the ocean by which they arrived 
in this small archipelago. 

The inquiry assumes larger proportions when we find 



DERIVATION OF THE HAWAIIANS. 61 

that it involves the derivation of the red inhabitants of 
the American Continent, between whom and the Pacific 
islanders there are points of resemblance. 

Stephens came to the conclusion, moreover, that 
there was a unity of race throughout the continents of 
America, and that the present Indian nomads represent 
the old city-builders of Yucatan and Central America. 
A fact supporting this view may be noticed here. 
Stephens relates that in removing some of the large 
flat stones that faced buildings, there was frequently 
found on the plaster beneath, the impression of a 
small outspread hand. When Catlin exhibited his 
Indian Museum in London, some years ago, there was 
to be seen on the buffalo leather, of which the tents 
were formed, the print of a sTnall outspread hand, 
which had been dipped in red pigment and pressed 
upon the leather. Thus this sort of crowning iTYvpri- 
matur on the plaster of the ancient buildings and on 
the tents of the living race, the size and the attitude of 
the hand being similar, may go for a small but ancillary 
proof of identity between the past and present inha- 
bitants of America; who, nevertheless, need not be 
strictly its autochthones, but may have arrived on the 
continent by an ancient immigration. The points of 
resemblance mentioned by Ellis between the aborigines of 
the mainland and of the Pacific Islands, are ' their modes 
of war, instruments, gymnastic games, rafts or canoes, 
treatment of their children, dressing their hair, feather 
head-dresses of the chiefs, girdles, and particularly the 
tiputa of the latter, which in shape and use exactly 
resembles the poncho of the Peruvians.' 

There seems also some resemblance traceable in the 
building of parallel walls, which have been found in 
Hawaii as well as in Central America. Whilst the 



62 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

people who on the continent have left their pyramids 
and sculptured stones used hieroglyphic writing, few 
traces of the latter art exist among the islanders ; and 
the symbols found by Ellis on the compact lava rocks in 
Hawaii were of the most rudimentary character. They 
consisted of a number of straight lines, semicircles, and 
concentric rings, with some rude imitations of the human 
figure, cut out with a stone hatchet. Those who are 
acquainted with Stephen's volumes and Mr. Cather- 
wood's elegant illustrations, will, however, remark a 
connection between the primitive symbols just men- 
tioned and the recurring hieroglyphs of the American 
sculptures, the cartouches, batons, and pellets, and the 
grotesque human figure. 

All the islanders of the Pacific are placed by Dr. 
Latham in the division of Oceanic Mongolidse. These 
may be subdivided into the Papuans, with black skins 
and crisp hair, and the Malayans, or copper-coloured 
race. We have at present to deal with the latter ; pre- 
mising that we do not assume the fact of their Eastern 
origin contained in the name of Malayan,— that being 
the subject of our present discussion.* 

* 'Hervas, a SpanisTi Jesuit, anticipated Humboldt in establishing a 
new family— the Malay, or Polynesian— spread over no less than 208 
degrees of longitude ; from Madagascar to the Easter Islands, on the 
West Coast of America. This family is now included in the great 
division called Turanian.' - 3faa7 MiiUer, Lectures on the Science of Lan- 
guage. 1861. 

Hervas says (Catalogo de las Lenguas) : ' Yo no sin trabajo material 
de ojear muchos libros,^y principalmente los que contienen las relaciones 
modernas de los descubrimientos de Cook y de Bougainville, he notado 
y recogido las palabras que en eUas he hallado de diversos lenguages de 
varias islas del mar del Sur, y habiendolas cotejado con las de dialectos 
claramente Malayos, he hallaudo que son tales dialectos las lenguas que 
se hablan en las seguientes islas del mar del Sur, 1. En el hemisferio 
boreal, las islas de Sandwych, k 20 grados de latitud y 4 210 de longi- 
dud ; ' &c. Vol. 2, chap. 1. 



UNITY OF THE OCEAN PEOPLES. 63 

No writer, probably, is entitled to more weight in his 
views of the identity and the heterogeneity of the 
oceanic races than Mr. Ellis, who has spent many 
years of a useful life among the groups of the Pacific, 
noting intelligently and investigating patiently their 
history, traditions, language, and relationship to each 
other. He authoritatively states, from his own observa- 
tions, that the natives of Chatham Island* and New 
Zealand in the south, the Sandwich Islands in the 
north,t the Friendly Islands in the west,J and all the 
intermediate islands, as far as Easter Island in the east, § 
are one people. ' Their mythology, traditions, manners 
and customs, language, and physical appearance, in their 
main features, are, so far as we had an opportunity of 
becoming acquainted with them, identically the same, 
yet differing in many respects from those of the islands 
to the westward of Tongatabu.'|| 

This grouping, though extensive, stretching through 
seventy degrees of latitude and seventy degrees of lon- 
gitude, is still comprised in the western hemisphere, 
with the exception of New Zealand ; and we presume in 
these island-peoples a homogeneity of race ; and also, 
though with less pronounced characters, an identity 
with the red and copper-coloured inhabitants of the 
American Continent. 

We will examine first the probability of an Eastern 
immigration. We know that, at least as far back as 
the end of the tenth century, Icelandic voyagers, them- 
selves emigrants from Denmark, had discovered the 
north-eastern coasts of America, and had made many 



* Lat. 43.46 S. Lon. 176.14 W. f Centre Lat. 20 K Lon. 155 W. 
J Centre Lat. 21 S. Lon. 175 W. § Lat. 26.6 S. Lon. 109.17 W. 

II 'Missionary Voyage,' 410. 



64 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

excursions from Snowland thither, and had traced the 
continent downward till they entered latitudes where 
sunshine and verdure enamoured them with a land 
which, in comparison with their own, they may well have 
imagined to be the outskirts of heaven, — shores where 
the wild vine grew so abundantly that the country was 
named by them Vinland.* If the direction of one wave 
may indicate the course of a whole tide, the appearance 
of North American Indians passing over Bhering's 
Straits into Asia might perhaps show that a circulation 
had been established towards the sun-setting. In a 
passage quoted by Chateaubriand from the Lettres 
Edifiantes of the Jesuits, it is said that a missionary of 
that order met in Tartary a Huron woman whom he 
had previously known in Canada ; and that he concluded, 
I from this strange adventure, that the American conti- 
\ nent approached on its north-west limit the continent 
' of Asia, t 

* "WTiilst tlie Caliphate of Bagdad still flourislied under the Abas- 
sides, and while the Samanides, whose reign was so favourable to 
poetry, bore sway in Persia, America was discovered in the year 1000 
by a Northern route, as far as 41|° north latitude, by Leif, the son of 
Eric the Eed. The first but accidental step towards this discovery was 
made from Norway. In the second half of the ninth century, Naddod, 
having sailed for the Faroe Islands, which had been previously visited 
from Ireland, was driven by storms to Iceland, and the first Norman 
settlement was estabhshed there by Ingolf, in 875. .' . . The coloniza- 
tion of Iceland, which' had been first called by Naddod Snowland 
(Snjoland), now conducted in a south-westerly direction, passing by 
Greenland to the New Continent. . . . The tract which received from 
Leif the name of Vinland it Goda, Vinland the Good, comprised the 
coastline between Boston and New York, therefore parts of Massachu- 
sets, Ehode Island, and Connecticut. 

' Parts of America were seen, but not landed on, fourteen years before 
Lief Eireksson, in a voyage which Bjarne Herjulfson undertook from 
Greenland to the southward in 986.'— Humboldt, Cosmos (Sabine), ii. 
233 and note. 

t This rather credulous account concludes thus : ' Et il devina ainsi 



CANOE YOTAGES. 65 

Beechey says, 'The objection' (that of such frail 
vessels as canoes proceeding from the Malayan and 
other great islands lying to the westward of Polynesia), 
* has so powerfully influenced the minds of some authors, 
that they have had recourse to the circuitous route 
through Tartary, across Bhering's Straits, and over the 
American continent, to bring the emigrants to a situa- 
tion whence they might be drifted by the ordinary 
course of the winds to the lands in question. But had 
this been the case, a more intimate resemblance would 
surely be found to exist between the American Indians 
and the natives of Polynesia.'* 

If the march of mankind was towards the west, and 
they had already swarmed downwards and peopled the 
upper continent of America, there would indeed be no 
difficulty in the supposition that from the western shores 
men had taken another departure and reached the 
nearest of the islands of the Pacific. For the trade 
winds blow steadily from the north-east during nine 
months of the year, and cattle have been conveyed 
in an open boat from the Californian coast to the Ha- 
waiian Islands, which can be reached in a few days. 
So that either accident, or a desire to make maritime 
discoveries, might have thrown upon the shores of Ha- 
waii the crew of a lost canoe or a more org-anised 
band of emigrants. With regard to the small craft that 
drift away from the coast of a continent it mast, how- 
ever, be remembered that the chances are manifold 
against one that a single canoe should strike upon a 
single island or a small group of islands distant a couple 
of thousand miles, so that many drifting boats would be 

I'existence du detroit qui longtemps apres a fait la gloire de Bering et 
de Cook.' — Genie du Christianisme, 432. 

* ' Narrative of Voyage,' &c., vol. i. 252. 



66 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

lost altogether before one would land its living freight; 
whilst, on the other hand, any number of canoes drifting 
in the opposite direction from the islands, must even- 
tually impinge on the sea-board of an immense con- 
tinent. Ellis, however, and his missionary associates, 
never heard of a canoe voyage made to the eastward, 
though they knew instances of canoes being out two or 
three weeks at sea, and arriving at places 500 or 600 
miles in direct distance from their starting-point. 

We must always allow a lengthened period to conse- 
cutive migrations. The settlers in one spot will gene- 
rally stay long enough to increase in numbers before a 
new exodus from their adopted habitat becomes desi- 
rable or necessary. Sometimes the whole community 
moves onward in search of ^pastures ever new;' but 
more frequently a part of the community goes forth, 
like a swarm from a hive, carrying with them the tra- 
ditions and idiosyncrasies of the parent tribe. Thus 
Tyre begets a Carthage, and Carthage begets a Cartha- 
gena. In each new home gradual changes take place; 
the settlers acclimatise to the new locality; dirt, misery, 
and other influences produce constitutional differences; 
and, what is important, these pioneers of a descending 
civilisation, with a half resemblance to the Bourbon 
dynasty, learn nothing, but forget a great deal. Never- 
theless, the aroma lingers perseveringly about the 
emptied phial. Under new skies, and after centuries 
of a.bsence, original events remain as myths in the 
popular memory: and arts, dwarfed and degraded, are 
found among people of too deficient an intelligence to 
have invented them. By these fragmentary arts,these 
distorted histories, these shadowy recollections, a scarcely 
discoverable thread of identity is kept along the pro- 
gressive steps by which they traversed half our sphere. 



SUPPOSED GREEK RESEMBLANCES. 67 

In the midst of degradation, and with landmarks re- 
moved out of sight, nations which have become savage 
still cherish the memory of a past that was glorious, and 
turn their eyes towards their deified progenitors, 

'And the august abode from -whence they came.' 

Speculations as to an Eastern emigration are scarcely 
more than glanced at here; and it may appear almost 
superfluous to refer to two groundless hypotheses which 
have been formed— the first, that Grreek remains have 
been discovered in South America, and that faint ves- 
tiges of G-reece are also traceable in the islands of 
Hawaii. The other supposition is that of the Hawaiian 
race being of Hebrew origin, and that these islanders 
represent the lost tribes of the house of Israel. 

With regard to Grreek resemblances, they may be 
classed under the following heads. First, the form of 
the feather helmet of the chiefs, which bears a con- 
siderable likeness to the metal casque and crest of 
the Grrecians. Secondly, the employment of the dual 
number in the Hawaiian language. Thirdly, the use of 
the spear and the bow and arrow, and the recumbent 
position at meals. Fourthly, sortilege by the entrails of 
slain animals before battle. 

As to the form of the helmet, it is probably a mere 
coincidence. A covering for the head will generally 
conform to the shape of the head (although the hats 
worn in Europe are a large exception to such a rule); 
and hence some resemblance must be established. As 
defensive armour, the Hawaiian helmet was useless, 
being formed of feathers closely arranged on a network. 
The people, instead of using armour in war, like the 
Grreeks, went into battle with nothing on but the maro, 
a girdle round the loins,— the smallest quantity of 

F 2 



gg HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

clothing conceivable. They used no shield, and it was 
the chiefs only who wore the feather helmets, and that 
for distinction and as insignia of their rank. 

The dual form in speaking may have been mtro- 
duced into the language by the native courtesy which 
characterises the chiefs, and have been followed by ple- 
beians in the same manner in which ' you ' has super- 
seded ^ thou ' in the speech of Europe. The Hawauans 
had a double form of dual for their pronoun ; the first 
including the speaker and the spoken-to, the second em- 
bracing the speaker and the person spoken-of.* In 
other respects there is little in common in the two lan- 
guao-es. The Hawaiian alphabet contains only seven con-^ 
sonants f and five vowels. It has no sibilants,! or sound 
equivalent to the / or c^. It is so destitute of consonant 
diphthongs that the natives cannot pronounce two con- 
sonants together without the interposition of a vowel ; 
and their words have invariably a vowel termination. 

With regard to the bow and arrow, although these 
instruments are complex and involve a practical ac- 
quaintance with some physical laws, the weapon is 
found so frequently among savage nations as well as 
civilised that one is almost tempted to say that the 
bow and arrow is an innate idea. The recumbent posi- 
tion at meals may have been experimentally found an 
easy one in a warm climate, and have suited well with 
a people whose indoles is indolence. 

Sortilege by the entrails of slain animals is more 
difficult to account for. 

^' Vide Ellis, who gives a table of the changes effected by duality, at 

^'Tso generally numbered : but nine, if the two pairs of interchange- 
ables be reckoned as four distinct letters. 

+ The Samoan is the only Polynesian group which possesses sibilants. 



HEBREW SIMILARITIES. 69 

There are a few words having an apparent similarity 
to the Grreek. Little weight, however, is due to a small 
number of coincident vocables in two languages, when, 
the proper deduction is made for necessity and accident. 
The following examples have been adduced : — 
Hawaiian. English. Greek. 

mele a song jjeXoc. 

aroJia love epcot, 

arii a chief " Apr}q, 

rani the heavens ovpavog. 

maliina the moon yuryj/. 

The similarity of sound in the last example is greater 
than is at first apparent. When the universal terminal 
vowel is thrown off, the two first syllables, pronounced 
quickly, come very near the Grreek word for month. 
The three words which in the list contain the letter r, 
lose their resemblance to the Grreek when written with 
an If which has been invariably substituted in modern 
orthography for the former letter. 

The number of customs among the Hawaiians corre- 
sponding to Hebrew practices is admitted at once to be 
very remarkable. But even if such proofs were con- 
sidered strong enough to substantiate the fact of Jews 
having reached the islands, it would not necessitate an 
emigration from the Mediterranean; the probability 
would be as great of their course having been in the 
opposite direction. As, however, the tribes of North 
America have been claimed to have a Hebrew origin, 
the points of Jewish resemblance may be properly 
enumerated here. These consisted of — 

1. Circumcision, which, previous to the establishment 
of the American missionaries, was commonly practised 
among the natives as a religious ceremony. 

2. Separation and purification of women after child- 
birth, &c., enforced under penalty of death. 



70 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

3. Cities of refuge —an institution found in no other 

heathen nation. 

4. Pollution by touching a dead body, and purifica- 
tion therefrom by religious ceremonies. 

5. Offering of the first-fruits to their gods. 

6. Wearing sackcloth in mourning. 

7. The custom of the chiefs of washing their hands 
before and after eating. 

8. Traditions resembling those in the Hebrew Scrip- 

tures. 

9. A resemblance which Mr. Dibble perceived be- 
tween the poetry of the Hebrews and the Hawaiians ; 
and a structural likeness in the two languages, espe- 
cially in the causative form of the Hawaiian verb, which 
is precisely the same as the Hiphil of the Hebrew.* 

Of the similarity of the native traditions to the his- 
tories of the Old Testament, the following examples will 
serve; and they are probably the most striking that 
Mr. Dibble could adduce. 

Hawaiian tradition relates, that man was originally 
made of the dust of the earth, by Kane and Kanaloa, 
two of their principal deities. 

In the story of Waikelenuiaiku, we have a pretty 
close counterpart of that of Joseph. His father had ten 

* ' The Hawaiians have no auxiliary verb " to he ; " there are no 
variations in nonns for case, number, or person ; but the moods and 
tenses of verbs are pretty clearly distinguished by simple prefixes and 
suffixes The mode of conjugating verbs, the existence of a causative 
form and the derivation of words from roots of two syllables, are 
thought to indicate a resemblance and cognate origin with the Hebrew 
and other Oriental XongyxeB.'-Cheever, Life in the 8. Islands. London, 

1851. , r ^ 

Mr Cheever also remarks a coincidence relating to the very frequent 

addition of the word wai to names of places, and the similar addition m 

the East of wadi, both words meaning water,-the changed Hawaiian 

form arising from a consistent rejection of consonants where practicable. 



COERESPONDING TBADITIONS. 71 

sons and one daughter. He was beloved by his father 
and hated by his brethren, who cast him into a pit ; his 
eldest brother having, moreover, a greater pity for him 
than the rest. He escaped into a country, the king of 
which was Kamohoalii, by whom he was confined in a 
dark place underground, together with many persons 
imprisoned there for various crimes. Whilst in prison 
he bid his companions dream, and he interpreted the 
dreams of four of them. One had seen a ripe ohia, 
and his spirit ate it; the second saw a ripe banana, 
which his spirit ate ; the third had seen a hog, which 
his spirit ate ; the fourth dreamed that he saw aioa, 
that he pressed out the juice, and his spirit drank it. 
Like Joseph, he interpreted the three first visions un- 
favourably to their dreamers, and they were afterwards 
slain ; to the last he gave an interpretation of deliverance 
and life, and he was accordingly saved. The king being- 
informed by this person of the wonderful powers of 
Waikelenuiaiku, the latter was liberated and made a 
principal chief in the kingdom. 

There is also a tradition of a person who, like Jonah, 
was swallowed by a fish, and afterwards cast out upon 
dry land. 

The natives also believed that a state of perpetual " 
night, or chaos, had preceded creation, in which antece- 
dent state nothing existed but some of the gods. The 
myth relating to Maui, a demi-god, has an analogy to 
Joshua when he commanded the sun to stand still. This 
same Maui was an important person in the Pantheon of 
New Zealand. The Hawaiians preserved a' tradition of 
a deluge, when rain fell, and the waters rose up until 
all the land was covered, except the summit of Mauna 
Kea. Some of the inhabitants saved themselves in a 
laaUj a vessel the height, length, and breadth of which 



72 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

•were equal ; it was filled with men, animals, and their 
food ; and after floating for some time, finally rested on 
the mountain Mauna Kea. 

It must be remembered, however, that whilst these 
myths of the Hawaiians bear a considerable resem- 
blance to the relations of the Hebrew Scriptures, the 
evidence of their coming from Jewish sources is not 
conclusive. The belief of the North American Indians 
in a Grreat Spirit, has been regarded as the inherit- 
ance of ages: Captain Burton, in his recent work on 
the Mormon States, looks upon it as derived from the 
teaching of Christian missionaries, and denies that the 
Indian theology embraced any notion of the immortality 
of the soul. These traditions of Hawaii (it may as easily 
be supposed), have arisen from casual intercourse with 
Europeans. It is unnecessary to remark, that in Ha- 
waiian society, as in that of the G-reek heroic age, a 
very short time will suffice to impart an air of antiquity 
to recently imported legends. 

A great danger, too, exists in claiming cognation be- 
tween two distant peoples from the coincidence of a few 
words in both languages. The Persian name for slipper 
is said to be almost the same as the North American 
Indian word, mocassin. This coincidence should not be 
allowed to prove that the Persians and the Indians of 
Canada are kindred. The Sanscrit name tala (wine 
made from the juice of palms), closely resembles the 
Hawaiian name of their universal edible, talo; but 
we do not thence jump at the conclusion that the 
Polynesian language is a derivative of the Sanscrit. The 
human organs of voice are the same throughout our 
race, and are only capable of producing a certain num- 
ber of sounds and articulations, the great majority of 
which articulations are common to all people, and must 



LANGUAGE AND ARTS. 73 

be employed by them in expressing ideas. Then, if 
the copia verborum of each of two nations consisted of 
5000 separate words, there would be several probabili- 
ties of coincidence, viz., that in each language the same 
articulation should be used to express one idea, and that 
only accidentally; and the chances of selection in the 
case of onomatopes would be still greater. The coinci- 
dence, therefore, of a few corresponding words is a 
meagre proof of identity of nations.* 

Equal circumspection is required before claiming 
identity between nations upon mere similarities, how- 
ever close, in arts, utensils, &c. Such resemblances 
often argue nothing more than that common wants 
seeking to supply their defect by the most obvious and 
simple methods, lead to a similarity of forms of construc- 
tion ; — in the same way that the uniformity of the hu- 
man organs of voice necessarily restricts the number of 
producible sounds, and tends accidentally to some iden- 
tities in vocables. Otherwise we shall have a Celtic 
origin claimed for the Polynesian islands in virtue of 
the Kist-vaens which are found upon them. There is 

* It is not remarkable tliat nations should frequently express ideas in 
onomatopes, nor that a word of very easy pronunciation should be 
selected in different languages for the same purpose. Papa, mamma, and 
the monosyllable ta, are words so easily produced that they are amongst 
the very first uttered by children. The syllables pa-ta become j^ja^er ; 
and it has been proposed to call Patarian that vast family of languages 
which adopt this word and its metamorphoses to express Father. It is 
more remarkable that some one idea should be independently selected 
by several nations for expression under an onomatope, whilst in each 
language the word is formed according to its own genius and without 
reference to the imitative form used by other nations. Take for example 
the English word whisper, corresponding in French with chuchotement, 
chuchoter ; in Italian with bishiglio, hisbigliare ; in Latin with susurrus, 
siisurro ; in Greek with y\/LQvpiC(j>, ^lOipicryia. Each language imitates the 
whispering sound in the name, but each does so according to its own 
plan, and in a manner quite divergent from all the others. 



74 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

in Hawaii an ancient lava road, ascribed to Umi, a 
king who flourished about 500 years ago. It remains 
very perfect, and is defined on each side with a kerb or 
bordering of stones. Along this road and near it are 
several of the structures of four stones, such as are 
found in this country, Brittany, &c. ; three stones being 
set upright and edgewise, the fourth forming a roof or 
covering. They are between three and four feet in 
height, and would afford shelter to human beings from 
the weather. An account has been received of similar 
structures existing in greater numbers upon Maiden's 
Island, a low coral isle situated in 4° S. lat., and 155° 
W. Ion. It is uninhabited, but bears traces of its for- 
mer occupants ; and though only thirty feet in elevation 
above the water, it gives evidence of several distinct up- 
heavals. Captain Goddard, who visited the island in 
the summer of 1861, found seven distinct, well-defined 
beaches traced on its shore line. On the centre ridge 
were counted more than a hundred made platforms, 
cruciform in shape, outlined with coral slabs standing 
three feet out of the ground, the area between the slab- 
walls being filled in with coral blocks, stones and shells, 
in a compact mass. In several places paths formed of 
stones and shells led from a cluster of these platforms 
down to the shore, traversing in their course the five 
upper or oldest beaches, but never in any instance going 
beyond the sixth, or down to the present beach of the 
sea. A number of other constructions were also dis- 
covered, consisting of three upright coral blocks, with 
a fourth lying on top, resembling a box with one end 
out. Upwards of thirty wells were examined. Many 
were from six to nine feet in depth, cut through the 
coral rock, and were either dry, or had salt water in 
them. A great number of very shallow graves were 



A WESTERN EMIGEATION. 75 

found, containing human bones more or less decayed, 
and egg-shaped shell ornaments.* . 

We dismiss the idea of an immigration from the sun- 
rising ; and we come now to consider the probabilities 
of the Hawaiian people having approached their home 
in the opposite direction — from the shores of Asia 
lying to their west, which front them. 

First, there is the expressed conviction of those who 
have visited the islands of Polynesia; and this, from 
their opportunities of comparing the inhabitants of sepa- 
rate groups, and of the Asiatic islands and continent, is 
of great importance. One of the latest writers, Mr. St. 
Julian, in his ' Official Report on Central Polynesia,' 
endorses the general idea that the Malayan tribes ' came 
direct from Asia, travelling to the eastward, from island 
to island, across the broad Pacific, until they poured upon 
the western shores of the, great American continent.' 

Secondly, there is the unity of the tribes inhabiting 
the islands of the Pacific. ' The New Zealander and 
Hawaiian,' says Mr. Jarves, who resided four years in 
the Sandwich Islands, ' though more than four thousand 
miles apart, with all the intermediate tribes, are mem- 
bers of one family, and require but a short period to 
acquire the faculty of a free exchange of ideas.' 

For the better illustration of the similarity and homo- 
logy of the two languages, or rather dialects of one lan- 
guage, I give in a foot-note a columnar version of the 
Lord's Prayer in Hawaiian and New Zealand speech, 
with a literal construe into English. It will be per- 
ceived by the vacancies in the Maori that there is in 
it an absence of several words and corresponding ideas 
which exist in Hawaiian. Among these blanks are Idng 

* 'Polynesian,' September 21, 1861. 



76 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



and kingdom; and the want confirms what Lang says of 
the New Zealanders, that they recognise only two classes 
in society, the slave or prisoner of war and the ranga- 
tira or gentleman. This trilingual version was prepared 
by the Eeverend Greorge Kingdon, who also adds the 
interesting final note.* 

corresponding words in 



* The Lord's Prayer in Hawaiian, with tlie 

Maori : 

Maoei. 

E 

to ( = te o) 

niatou 

Matua 

i roto 

o 

te 

Kangi 



Hawaiian. 
E 
ko 

mako 
Makna 
i-loko 
o 

ka 
Lani 
e hoanoia 
Kou 
Inoa 

e hiki mai 

Kou 

Aupuni 

e malamaia 

Kou 

Makemake 

ma 

ka — nei 

honua 

e like me 

ia 

i malamaia 

ma 

ka 

Lani 

e haawi mai 

i a makou 

i ai 

no 



Tou 

Ingoa 

(whiti, to cross OTer 
( mai = towardsthespeaker 

Tou 



Tou 

ma 
te — nei 

whenua 
e rite me 
ia 

ma 

te 

Eangi 

i a matou 

i (te) kai 
J mo 
i (no, belonging to) 





the of 

us 

Father 

inside 

of 

the 

Heaven 

hallowed be 

Thy 

Name 

come 

Thy 

Kingdom 

done be 

Thy 

"WiU 

by 

this 

earth 

like as 

that 

done 

by 

the 

Heaven 

give 

us 

food 

for 



HAWAIIAN AND MAORI LANGUAGE. 



4 i 



The same writer remarks : ' The language spoken in 
the groups so widely diffused over the Pacific Ocean has 



HAWAIIAN. 


MA' 


OKI. 




keia 


tenei 




this 


la 


ra 




day 


e kala mai 






forgiye 


i ko 


i to (=i te o) 




the of 


makou 


matou 




us 


lawehalaana 


rawe, greatness; 


hara, sin 


trespass 


me 


me 




as 


makou 


matou 




we 


e kala nei 






forgive 


i ka 


ite 




the 


poe 

i lawehala mai 






people 
(who)trespass against 


i a makou 


i a matou 




us 


mai 






not? 


alakai 


arataki 




lead 


i a makou 


i a matou 




us 


i ka 


ite 




in the 


hoowalewaleia mai 
ata 


1 whakaware, to hinder, a- ) 
^muse,engagetheattention \ 


temptation 
but 


e hoopakele 






deliver 


i a makou 


i a matou 




us 


mai 






from 


ka ino 


te kino 




the evil 


no ka mea 


no te mea 




for 


Nou 


Nou 




Thine 


ke 


te 




the 


Aupuni 
a me 


a, or me 




Kingdom 
and 


ka Mana 


te Mana 




the Power 


a me 


a, or me 




and 


ka 


te 




the 


hoonaniia 






Glory 


a mau loa 'ku 


(a mau roa atu 
< roa, long; atu, 


onwards ) 


for ever 


Amene 


Amine 




Amen. 



The Hawaiian k and 1 appear to be invariably changed in Maori into 
t and r respectively ; and the n and \i frequently into ng and wh. K is 



78 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the same common structure, with but such differences 
as ma}^ be resolved into dialects,— the result of long 
non-intercourse ; while other peculiarities are to be at- 
tributed to difference of soils, climates, governments, 
and other local causes.' And he urges that ' when affini- 
ties of language, physiological resemblances, correspond- 
ing manners, and religious belief, and, more particularly, 
well-established traditions, pointing to a common ori- 
gin, appear among tribes which, in modern times, have 
lost all means of communication, the enquirer finds 
tenable grounds for believing in a general relationship. 
This appears to be the case throughout Polynesia.' 

I must resist being drawn in further by the fascinat- 
ing subject of language, necessarily embracing ethno- 
logy ; and gladly refer my readers to Dr. Lang's view 
of the ' Origin and Migrations of the Polynesian Nation ' 
(London, 1834) ; and to the Second Series of Professor 
Max Miiller's ' Lectures on Language.' 

The habitat will account for special differences in the 
physique of nations belonging to one family. ' The hair 
of the Hawaiians,' says Mr. Ellis, ' is black or brown, 
strong, and frequently curly ; their complexion is neither 
yellow, like the Malays, nor red, like the American In- 
dians, but a kind of olive, and sometimes reddish brown.' 

Thirdly, as to the possibility of long voyages from the 
Asiatic shores, they have been demonstrated to be prac- 
ticable by actual instances. Japanese junks, which have 
been blown out to sea, have been finally stranded with 

frequently inserted in Maori ; as, for instance, it is a Maori tradition that 
their ancestors came from 'Ha waiki,' which is clearly ' Hawaii.' The 
causative prefix hoo becomes in Maori whaka ; as hoomaikai, to praise 
(literally, to make good) ; whakapai, to praise ; hoonui, whakanui, to 
magnify, to make great. Many other interesting particulars might be 
discovered by a person acquainted with both languages. 



CANOES ADEIFT. 79 

jheir occupants on distant islands, and have even reached 
the continent of America in the 46th degree of north 
latitude. And an example still more in point is, that in 
the year 1832 one of these junks was wrecked on Oahu, 
Sandwich Islands, after having been tossed about at sea 
for eleven months ; four persons out of her original crew 
of nine surviving. It is certain that every year many 
canoes, crowded with people of both sexes, are picked 
up at sea, after having drifted at the mercy of the ele- 
ments to great distances from their places of departure. 
The great number of islands, which may almost be said 
to continue the continent of Asia far into the ocean, 
form, comparativel}^, easy stepping-stones for a popula- 
tion projecting itself towards the Pacific Polynesia, and 
thence by a last flight to the finality of the American 
mainland. Ellis's assertion has been already quoted, 
that of many stray canoes reaching Tahiti from eastern, 
unknown islands, the voyages have always been in a 
westerly direction ; the missionaries never heard of one 
towards the sunrise. Beechey says : ^ All have agreed 
as to the manner in which these migrations between the 
islands have been effected, and some few instances have 
actually been met with ; but they have been in one di- 
rection only, and have rather favoured the opinion of 
migration from the eastward. The accident which threw 
in our way Tuwarri and his companions, who were driven 
600 miles in a direction contrary to the trade wind, in 
spite of their utmost exertions, has fortunately enabled 
us to remove the objections which have been urged 
against the general opinion. The fact being so well 
attested, and the only one of the kind upon record, is, 
consequently, of the highest interest, both as reo-ards 
its singularity, and as it establishes the 'possibility of the 
case. Though this is the only instance that has come to 



80 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

our knowledge, there is no reason why many other canoes 
may not have shared a similar fate ; and some few of 
many thousands, perhaps, may have drifted to the remotest 
islands of the Archipelago, and thus peopled them.' * 

Fourthly, the native traditions. These are scanty ; 
but one of them relates to a man and woman arriving 
at Hawaii in a canoe bringing with them a hog, a dog, 
and a pair of fowls. These persons became the pro- 
genitors of the Hawaiian people. By another story pre- 
valent among the inhabitants of Oahu, a number of 
persons arrived in a canoe from Tahiti, and perceiving 
that the Sandwich Islands were fertile, and were dwelt 
in only by gods and spirits, they asked and obtained 
permission to settle there. The early missionaries found 
the o-eneral opinion as to the origin of the Hawaiian 
race, to be either that their first parents had been created 
on the islands, or that the chiefs were descended from 
Akea the first king, who appears to have been a demi- 
god; or the more popular view, that their ancestors had 
arrived in a canoe from Tahiti. Now the island of Tahiti, 
the principal of the Society group, lies on the ecliptic, in 
about lat. 18° S., and long. 150° W. It is consequently 
nearly forty degrees south of Hawaii, and rather to the 
westward of the latter group. There is nothing against 
the probability of an emigration from Tahiti ; but the 
name tahiti itself is in the Greorgian and Society Islands 
a verb ; and it has also a signification in the language of 
the Sandwich Islands, being equivalent to the word 
abroad, and is frequently employed to denote any foreign 
country. But, as in this country, some centuries ago, 
the word Spanish, though necessarily derived from the 
country Spain, was used with the meaning of outlandish 

* ' Narrative of a Voyage,' &c., vol. i. 252. 



TRADITIONS OF OEIGIN. 81 

or foreign ; so Ellis thinks that the name Tahiti was 
primarily employed to denote the whole of the southern 
group or its principal island ; but it did not include the 
more contiguous group of the Marquesas. 

According to native tradition frequent intercourse 
existed between the various groups of islands, and the 
canoes then used were larger and of a better construc- 
tion. In the Hawaiian Meles, or songs, the names of 
Nuuhiva and Tahuata, two of the Marquesan islands,— 
TJpolu and Savaii, belonging to the Samoan group,— and 
Tahiti, with others in that neighbourhood, frequently 
occur ; besides the names of headlands and towns in 
those islands. These songs also make allusions to voyages 
from Oahu and Kauai to islands far west. 

As the traditionary lore of the Hawaiians is rapidly 
dying out, and printing is taking the place of me- 
mory, it is probable that little more of such transmitted 
information will be procured from native bard or eld. 
Mr. Ellis mentioned to me his conviction that if he 
returned to the Sandwich Islands he should not now 
obtain one-tenth of the myths or histories which he 
gathered there five-and-thii-ty years ago. The chapter, 
therefore, of popular palaeontology must be a short one \ 
and it may be closed with a question that arises in the 
mind when we consider the present state of this or any 
particular society of mankind, viz. : How has this people 
arrived at its present status ? Has it been by progression 
or retrogression ? Have they advanced from a somewhat 
G-orilla condition, such as still holds the Earthmen of 
Africa ; or have degrading influences been at work and 
marred gradually the goodly image which the Creator 
formed ? Are we to hold with Monboddo, the ' Vestiges,' 
and Darwin ;— or, with the more glowing and regretful 
belief of South, that ' Aristotle was but the ruin'^of an 

a 



82 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Adam, and Athens only the rudiments of Eden ? ' In 
this world of flux and change it is probable that the 
light shines on and is withdrawn from different nations 
in turns. Those who love light and use it well may be 
privileged to keep their faces turned towards it, and 
follow it wheresoever it goes. * It does not appear,' says 
Humboldt, ' to belong to the destinies of the human 
race that all portions of it should suffer eclipse or ob- 
scuration at the same time. A preserving principle 
maintains the ever-living process of the progress of 
reason.'* And the Christian philosopher has something 
to add to this, which seems a somewhat cold estimate of 
the human destiny. We may believe that the lamp of 
religious truth emits rays of warmth as well as of light ; 
and that a nation will receive a blessing from on high 
and that a shield will be extended over her head whilst 
she diligently trims that lamp and carries it forth in zeal 
and love to enlighten other nations and the isles that sit 
in darkness. 



* f 



Cosmos.' (Sabine), ii. 232. 



83 



CHAPTEE VI. 

EAELY ISLAND DISCOVERIES — NATIYE HISTORY COOK's 

FIRST ARRIVAL. 

EARLY in the sixteenth century the pioneers of 
navigation from Portugal, Spain, and Genoa had 
burst into the great Pacific Ocean. Magellan entered 
the Pacific in 1520, and discovered the Marianas, the 
Philippines, and some smaller islands. Oaetano dis- 
covered one of the Sandwich Islands in 1542; and fol- 
lowing him, Quiros found Tahiti and the New Hebrides. 
Sea voyages in the Pacific multiplied, but that sea long 
continued the exclusive theatre of the enterprises of the 
Spaniards and Portuguese. Its hydrography was, how- 
ever, unfiled and imperfect, and, as Humboldt remarks, 
the islands by which it was studded, from want of exact 
astronomical determination of position, strayed to and 
fro on the map, like floating islands.* That great ob- 
server says: ^ It has been asked, how it was possible for 
Spanish vessels since the sixteenth century to cross the 
great ocean from the western coast of the New Continent 
to the Philippine Islands without discovering the isles 
with which that vast sea basin is strewed ? ' He answers 
the question by the small number of voyages made; one 
ship went and returned between New Spain and Manilla 
during the year; scarcely more between the latter place 
and Lima; by the difficulties of navigation at a period 



* ' Cosmos.' 
G 2 



g4 HAWA.IIA.N ISLANDS. 

when the use of lunar distances and chronometers was 
unknown to navigators; and by the necessity felt of 
following an ascertained track, from which if they de- 
viated they feared falling in with shallows and shoals. 
He enumerates the discoveries made by the Spaniards 
in the great ocean, and says that the names of Viscayno, 
Mendana, Quiros, and Sarmiento, undoubtedly deserve 
a place beside the names of the most illustrious navi- 
gators of the eighteenth century. ' In 1542,' he says, 
?Gaetano had already found several scattered islands 
not far from the group of Sandwich Islands; and it 
cannot be called in question that even this last group 
was known to the Spaniards for more than a century 
before the voyage of Cook for the island of Mesa in- 
dicated on an old chart of the galleon of Acapulco is 
the same with the island of Owhyhee, which contains 
the hioh mountain of The Table or Mowna Roa. 
Christian missionaries, too, were pressing forward into 
the newly discovered tropical lands of America: one or 
more possibly reached Hawaii. Ellis found a tradition 
preserved there among the people, and he heard it from 
them in three different places, that in the reign of 
Kahoukapu, a priest (Kahuna) arrived in Hawaii from 
a foreign country. He was a white man, having the 
name of Paao, and he brought with him two idols or 
gods one of which was large and the other small. 
These were adopted by the nations, admitted into the 
national pantheon, and were worshipped accordmg to 
the direction of Paao; the temple called Mokim, m 
the district of Pauepu, near the north point of the island, 
was built for them, as tradition states by a priest, 
who afterwards became a powerful man in the nation. 

» 'Polit. Essay on New Spain.' 



TRADITIONS OF EAELY VISITOES. 85 

It requires no great effort of the imagination to see, 
under the native name Paao, a metamorphic form of 
Paolo; in the two idols, large and small, images of the 
Virgin and Holy Child; in the temple, a small church 
or chapel. After Paao's death, his son (we presume the 
priest's son is meant, and it militates a little against 
the supposition just mentioned), whose name was Opiri, 
officiated in the temple of Mokini. Of Opiri an inter- 
esting record is preserved orally, that he acted as in- 
terpreter between the king and a party of white men 
who arrived at the island. 

A tradition of white men, still more involved in 
mystery, was found by the same inquiring author. The 
great volcanic mountain, now extinct, Mauna Kea, is 
said to have taken its name, not from the snow 
by w^hich it is perpetually capped, — Kea being the 
obsolete term for white, — but on account of some white 
men, who are reported to have resided on the mountain 
and to have come down to the seashore frequently in 
the evening, and to have frightened the natives. These 
people were called na Kea, ' the whites.' 

One more native tradition deserves mention as indi- 
cating the knowledge the Hawaiians had in early times 
of the existence of other groups, and as also connecting 
a relation of the same order given by the old traveller 
Eubruquis. In 'The Voyage of Kamapiikai,' it is 
stated, that one of the gods appeared to the priest 
Kamapiikai in a vision, revealed to him the existence, 
situation, and distance of Tahiti, and directed him to 
make a voyage thither. He accordingly sailed with 
forty companions in four double canoes. On the return 
of this party after an absence of fifteen years, they 
described the country they had visited, and which they 
called Haupokane, as possessing handsome inhabitants^ 



8S HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

delicious and plentiful fruits, &c.; and that there was 
there a stream or fountain called the ' i^ai om roa," the 
water of enduring life.' The priest made subsequently 
three more voyages to the newly discovered couutry, ac- 
companied by many Hawaiians; and from the fourth 
voyage they never returned; having either taken up 
their permanent abode at Haupokane, or perished at sea. 
The inducement to the priest's fellow countrymen to 
accompany him was mainly the qualities of the ' water 
of enduring life.' It produced marvellous changes in 
those who bathed in it. The infirm, the emaciated, and 
the deformed came out of its wave young, strong, and 
handsome. The island is not improbably one of the 
Marquesan group, but under a name which cannot be 
identified. The story preserved in Koger Bacon from 
the travels of Eubruquis, and analogous to the relation 
above, is his description of a land near Cathay, bounded 
by the Eastern Ocean,— a happy land, 'where men and 
women arriving from other countries cease to grow 
old.' The marvellous waters of the wai or a roa agree 
also with ' The Fountain of Youth,' which Pouce de 
Leon sought for in vain in Florida in 1512. The 
native legend maybe a transformed version of a relation 
given by early Spanish visitors. 

It has been already mentioned that in proportion as 
printing has become used in the islands, oral tradition is 
dying out. It was fortunate, therefore, that the early 
American missionaries collected and preserved as much 
as they did of the prescriptive history of Hawaii. Mr. 
Ellis, at the time of his visit, found the bards able to 
recount the successive reigns of about seventy kings ; 
and with regard to the thirty-five reigns nearest to 
our own day, the accordance between the bards was 
very exact. 



TRADITIONARY VISITANTS. 87 

Native traditions refer to the arrival of strangers a 
long time before Cook's appearance. In the seventeenth 
century Spanish merchantmen were crossing the Pacific, 
and might have refreshed at these islands. The 
buccaneers, too, may have found the small harbour a 
convenient place of concealment. On Captain Cook's 
first visit, he found two pieces of iron in the possession 
of the natives, — one a portion of a hoop, the other 
apparently part of a broadsword. The islanders were 
acquainted with the use of iron. It is not wonderful 
that more of that metal was not found in an unchanged 
state, because it would be converted into fish-hooks, 
which the Hawaiians preferred making in their own 
fashion from pieces of iron, to the hooks brought to 
them ready made. Tradition states that many genera- 
tions since, ships were seen passing the islands at a 
distance. The name they gave them, and which is still 
retained in the native language for all vessels, was 
Moku, or islands. A more precise tradition relates that 
a boat arrived in Kealakeakua Bay, on the west side of 
Hawaii, — the bay where Cook met his death, — that it 
had no masts or sails, but was painted, and had an 
awning over the stern. The persons who arrived in the 
boat were clad in white and yellow cloth, and one of 
them wore a hat with a plume, and had a 'pahi^ i. e. a 
sword, at his side. These people remained, and formed 
alliances with the natives, rose to be chiefs and famous 
warriors, and for a considerable period governed Hawaii. 
The date of their coming, as far as it can be deduced 
from circumstances, may have been about the year 
1600. Later than this, perhaps in 1620, a vessel was 
wrecked in the south side of the same bay. The cap- 
tain of her, and a white woman, were the only per- 
sons saved. On reaching the beach they prostrated 



88 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

themselves there for a long while. The strangers were 
hospitably received by the natives, formed connections 
with them, and from this mixed race it is said that many 
of the chiefs and common people have descended. 
Those who are supposed to represent this race at the 
present day, are distinguished by their lighter skin, and 
by brown or red curly hair, called ehu. 

We have to pass over more than a whole century, 
and then we find that in the map of the world attached 
to Anson's Voyages, published in 1748, the Sandwich 
Islands are delineated under their Spanish appellations, 
correct as to latitude, and but ten degrees too far to the 
west. What use was made of this chart towards the 
crreat re-discovery of the islands thirty years afterwards, 
is not known ; but, Mr. Jarves remarks, Cook enquired 
at Tahiti if any islands lay to the north of them ; and 
in his journal no great surprise is evinced at discovering 
land in that direction. The same writer observes of 
that great navigator, that ' a silence in regard to the 
maritime efforts of his predecessors is observable 
throughout his j ournals.' 

It was in the pause between two revolutions— two 
years after the United States of America had in 1776 
signed the Declaration of Independence ; while France 
had not yet broken out into those flames which reduced 
her to a temporary dissolution,— that an English seaman, 
somewhat in the spirit of Columbus, was calmly pur- 
suing discoveries in the great ocean of the Pacific. 
Ere the French revolution commenced. Cook's life had 
been taken away under circumstances that have arrested 
the attention of the world; but it happens that his 
successor, Vancouver, visited the Hawaiian Islands in 
that memorable year when news of the decapitation of 
Louis XVI. caused every monarch in Europe to rise 



CAPTAIN COOK S DISCOTERT. 89 

the next morning with a crick in his neck. It is 
interesting to relate cotemporaneous events so different 
in their nature as a popular cataclysm and a geographical 
discovery; and to remark that science, though en- 
gendered by social wants, has an existence independent 
of the social life, and often pursues her way, as she 
did in France at that very epoch, indifferent to the 
madness or the misery of a nation. And so it was, that 
whilst the New World was emerging from war, and the 
Old World was about to plunge into that great calamity, 
fair countries, lying gem-like on the ocean, unknown or 
forgotten, welcomed in peace the flag that brought them 
at once and for ever face to face with the benefits and 
the ills of civilisation. 

In January 1778, Captain Cook's two ships, the 
' Eesolution ' and ' Discovery,' approached for the first 
time the islands of Kauai and Niihau, the most westerly 
of the Hawaiian group. The apparition naturally excited 
the wonder and curiosity of the natives, who flocked 
about the two ships in their canoes, bartering their 
productions for iron, but could not be induced to go 
on board. The next morning, when the islanders were 
stirring, their amazement was even increased by seeing 
the moving islands or forests at anchor in Waimea Bay.* 
The first meeting of the savage and the civilised man 
was not to take place without a display of evil passions ; 
and before day declined. Death, in a new form to the 
Hawaiians, was at his work. The chiefs of the island 
sent people to examine the ships, who reported the great 
quantity of iron that they observed about them. The 
thirst for iron in those distant islands was as strong as 

* Three of the islands, if not more, have places named Waimea. This 
one is on the south of Kauai. There is an inconvenient repetition among 
native names ; thus, that of Kona occurs on four of the islands. 



90 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

tiie thirst for gold is in more enlightened communities. 
A warrior at once decided to plunder the ships, feeling 
strong within himself the ferri sacra fames. In his 
attempt he was fired on by the crew and killed. The 
incident did not, however, interfere with the intercourse 
that was established between the white men and the 
natives ; the former gratified their passions, the latter 
indulged, wherever practicable, their propensity for 
thieving. Cook endeavoured to preserve the islanders 
from the ill effects of this intercourse, but any disci- 
pline he could enforce on board was neutralized by 
the facilities offered on shore by a people with whom 
chastity was not counted among the virtues, nor shame 
esteemed a feminine grace. 

The appearance and get-up of the ' British seaman ' 
of that day, was a peculiar one ; it was especially won- 
derful in the eyes of the Kanaka.'' The cocked hat 
adhering to the head, was to them identified strictly 
with the wearer, so that the spies who went to examine 
the ships described the people on board as having 
' heads horned like the moon.' They had fires burning 
at their mouths,— no doubt cigars; they ate the raw 
flesh of men;— this was the red, juicy water-melon 
brought from Monterey ; they took, like Peter Schlem- 
mil, "anything they wanted out of their bodies,— such 
was the first impression of pockets on the native mind ; 
and what was more laughable than all (for the Hawaiians 
are essentially a risible people), was the utterly un- 
intelligible gibberish that the strangers spoke. All 
these circumstances, together with the firing of some 
more guns, made the natives conclude that their 
visitors were gods. 

* The native name for an inhabitant of the islands. 



THE RETURN OF LONO. 91 

There was an additional reason for such a belief. 
Lono, the Hawaiian Hercules, was one of the major 
gods. In a fit of jealousy he killed his wife; but, 
driven to frenzy by the act he had committed, he 
wandered through the islands, boxing and wrestling 
with all he met: his answer to every astonished en- 
quirer being, '^ I am frantic with my great love ! ' 
Having instituted the athletic games known as the 
Mahakiki, in honour of his wife's memory, and which 
were held annually, he sailed from the islands in a 
triangular canoe, for a foreign land ; but ere he departed 
he uttered this prophecy ; « I will return in after times 
on an island bearing cocoa-nut trees, swine and dogs.' 
Cook's two ships, so much larger than any floating 
objects the natives had hitherto seen, appeared to 
them, not unplausibly, islands, the masts being trees ; 
and now Lono was returning to his own country. From 
Lono were supposed to have proceeded the thunder and 
lightning of the ship's guns which were fired. Still 
the islanders thought at first of attacking the vessels ; 
but a female chief advised conciliatory measures ; and 
to propitiate the strangers, she sent her own daughters 
and other women on board. This measure may only 
have anticipated an evil which was certain to arise as 
soon as shipping should make the island a place of 
refreshment during their voyages, or a market for their 
commodities. Nevertheless the seeds of a disease pre- 
viously unknown were immediately communicated to 
the natives, a disease which has spread through the 
whole group, attended with the most fatal consequences. 
'I said, ye are gods,' was the emotion of a simple 
people at the first impact of the civilised world; but, 
alas ! the visitors showed themselves to be but frail, 
passionate men. ^The great revolutions,' remarks 



92 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Mr. Jarves, ' the islands were to undergo, commenced on 
one side with theft and prostitution, which was repaid 
by death and disease. Still the superior knowledge, 
humanity, and forbearance of the whites had been seen 
and acknowledged, and the first moral lessons in the dis- 
tinctions of property, the foundation of all commercial 
prosperity, received. 

The ships had remained a fortnight, principally at 
Niihau, and then sailed with the south-west trade wind, 
which prevails in the early months of the year, for the 
north-west coast of America. The news of the great 
event spread rapidly from Kauai to the next island, 
Oahu. At that time each island was under the rule of 
a separate king. Kalaniopuu reigned over the great 
island of Hawaii, whose name in the journals of Cook 
Ledyard, and Beechey, appears as Terreoboo, Teraiobu, 
and Teriapu. To account for the differences in the 
orthography of native names, it is to be remarked that 
the language is essentially vocal, having but seven con- 
sonants, and consequently it was difficult to transfix a 
previously unwritten tongue, and give its sounds their 
true phonetic value. The difficulty was increased by two 
pairs of consonants being interchangeable, viz. : h with 
t, and I with r ; and the difference between another 
pair, h and ^, not being perceptible. Whether it is 
that the ear of the Hawaiians does not distinguish the 
difference, or that the consonant they use is a com- 
promise between each pair of letters, is uncertain. The 
American missionaries did much to systematise the 
spelling of the language ; and in recent books and 
papers the letter I has displaced its interchangeable r 
—generally, but not always. The important root which 
forms the food of the people is still spelt taro, very 
rarely halo. The older writers used the t and the r ; 



cook's first visit. 93 

and Ellis, who wrote five-and-thirty years ago, adopts 
a mixed orthography in respect of the above letters. 

To Kalaniopuu, then, the great news was carried from 
Oahu ; and the account of the strangers was embellished 
and added to in the nsual manner with oral traditions. 
By Mohu's description the ships, as well as their crews, 
were animated beings, the latter perhaps seeming a para- 
sitical life attached to the former, or to have the same 
relation which the coral insect bears to the common 
coral branch. A small piece of canvas procured from 
the English had been sent by the Chief of Kauai to the 
King of Oahu, who presented the rarity to his wife. It 
was not long before a public procession gave the fit 
opportunity for female vanity, and the queen walked 
proudly with the rag of canvas worn in the most con- 
spicuous part of her dress. As that dress was particu- 
larly scanty, this exotic addition to it must have been 
well displayed, and attractive of much attention. It 
probably had an effect as dissipating to the wearer's 
mind as Hans Christian Andersen's red shoes at his 
confirmation. 

WTiilst Cook was absent, war had broken out between 
Hawaii and Maui ; the king: of the latter island beino- 
Kahekili — called by Cook and others Titeree. Kalanio- 
puu, King of Hawaii, invaded his neighbour's island ; 
and on that occasion he was accompanied by a youth in 
whom was already lighted the fire of military and admin- 
istrative genius, who became afterwards a great con- 
queror, and the founder of the present dynasty of 
Hawaii-Nei — i. e. the whole group of Hawaii, as dis- 
tinguished from the single island of Hawaii. This was 
Kamehameha, the future warrior king. 

It is the effect both of sorrow and of success to 
make men superstitions. The war-gods were carried 



94 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

in the forefront of the armies, and in battle the islanders 
trusted as much to the effect of terror produced by the 
frightful countenances of their idols on their enemy, 
as to their own prowess. The gods were at this 
juncture in exaltation ; and the minds of those who 
trusted in them were more than usually accessible to 
any fresh manifestation of divinity. This particular 
state of feeling is woven up with the mixed narrative of 
events which follows. 

On the 26th of November a pitched battle was fought, 
in which the invading king was triumphant. The vic- 
tors at evening retired to Wailuku, a bay on the north 
side of Maui, to refresh themselves after the battle ; and 
lo ! a marvel awaits them : at morning they beheld in 
the bay the very islands of gods, report of which had 
been previously brought to them. Is not this the re- 
ward of victors ? Can this be other than Lono returned 
to salute the conquerors? The belief that Cook was 
indeed Lono, a belief which that great navigator thought 
it his interest to acquiesce in, if not to cherish, became 
in the end a proximate cause of his untimely death. 
Kalaniopuu sent off a present to the ships of some hogs, 
and afterwards made a state visit to the commander on 
board, accompanied by the young Kamehameha. The 
latter with a few attendants, remained on board all 
night, greatly to the consternation of those on shore, 
who seeing the vessels stand out to sea, supposed the 
god had carried away their young warrior, and made 
loud and bitter lamentations for his loss. Kamehameha 
was soon landed in safety, and Cook pursued his way for 
Hawaii, and on the 2nd of December arrived at Kohala. 



95 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE TRAGEDY IN KEALAKEAKUA BAY. 

CONTINUING- his course round the island, occasion- 
ally trading with the natives. Cook's two ships 
anchored, January 17, 1779, in the bay on the western 
side of Hawaii, called variously Kaawaroa, Karakakoua, 
and Kealakeakua. The time of his arrival there was 
a week of tabu. An oppressive sacerdotalism united 
itself with an absolute monarchy in governing the 
nation. The priesthood and the kingship were oblio-ed 
to respect each other; and their union, instead of 
counterbalancing the power which each possessed, and 
so ameliorating it to the common people, was an alliance 
which riveted the chain of feudalism more completely 
round that people's neck. One of the great instruments 
used by both king and priests for maintaining their 
power and their revenue, was the system of tabu or 
taboo. It was a consecration of any object, or person, or 
period of time, for some exclusive purpose; and it was 
enforced with sanguinary penalties. There were per- 
manent tabus, as of the king's fish-ponds and bathing- 
places : there were long- continued tabus, not taken off, 
in some cases, for many years; and there were shorter 
tabus, existing a week, or a single day. Sometimes a 
whole district, or an entire island, was placed under 
tabu, during the continuance of which it was excommu- 
nicated, no canoe or person being allowed to approach 



K 



96 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

it. In the tabu season, if it were strict —for there was a 
lighter and a more stringent kind,— every light and fire 
was to be extinguished ; all avocations were suspended ; 
on that wave which all the people, young and old of 
both sexes, loved so much, no canoe might be launched; 
and in it none might bathe. No one might be seen 
out of doors; and as the purpose of the tabu would 
be frustrated by any sound emitted by animal or bird, 
to prevent such a catastrophe, the mouths of dogs 
and pigs were tied up ; and as for the poor garrulous 
fowls, after having had their eyes bandaged, they were, 
by way of further precaution, put under a calabash, and 
their quietus made in double darkness. Such a tabu 
was a living death. Nothing that the Church of Eome 
has effected by her severest ban approached its com- 
pleteness; the silence of an Indian . c^/mr^a was not so 
depressing. The sacred chiefs alone, those who claimed 
origin from the gods, the king and the priests, were 
allowed locomotion. Before these the common people 
prostrated themselves with their faces in the dust; but 
neither priest nor king might touch anything them- 
selves, and food was put into their mouths by other 
hands than their own. It was at such a season that 
Cook arrived in Kealakeakua Bay. 

This bay is one of volcanic formation. In parts of it, 
as along the whole of its north-west shore, the deep 
water is close to land, so that a boat may pull close to 
the rocks, which are entirely formed of lava, dark, 
porous, and hard. At other places the bay has a beach 
composed of the same material; and at the head of the 
bay the lava rocks rise up steeply; and it would seem 
that at some time a land-slip or an earthquake had torn 
away a portion of the cliff, which has sunk below the 
level of the sea, and has left exposed in the face of the 



KEALAKEAKUA BAY. .,-7» 

rock caverns, through some of which can be traced the 
flow of lava from the volcano. These caves are used 
for places of sepulture. 

Though silence reigned on sea and on shore when the 
^Discovery' and ^Resolution' cast anchor in the bay, it 
IS a proof that their commander had quite acquired*^ the 
reputation of the returned Lono that the tabu was taken 
off in consequence of his approach. Great numbers of 
people then went on board, accompanied by a high 
chief, Palea. With the Hawaiians, Mokualii was the god 
of canoe-makers, and when the natives saw some of the 
seamen caulking the vessels, they pronounced them to 
be Mokualii's clan. Several of the ships' company were 
smoking cigars, and these received the name of Lono- 
volcano. Many women, as before, visited the vessels, 
and numerous persons of both sexes flocked round Cook 
and paid him divine honours. An old priest, who had 
once been a famous warrior, approached the captain 
with the utmost veneration, threw over his shoulders a 
piece of red cloth, and offered a pig, pronouncing at the 
time a long oration. The Apostles at Lystra, when the 
priests under similar circumstances were preparing to 
sacrifice to them the garlanded ox, cried out with horror, 
' We are men ! ' and prevented the intended rite ; but 
in the history of Cook's behaviour at Hawaii we do not 
find that he deprecated the religious ceremonies of 
which he was frequently the object, or disclaimed the 
character of the god which the heathen people assigned 
to him. 

The multitudes who were at^-racted to the bay were 
very great for a sparse populati(m. Ledyard computed 
the number of persons at upwards of 15,000, and he 
states that 3,000 canoes were counted afloat at one 
time. The latter fact appears more remarkable than the 

H 



$g HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

number of human beings whom curiosity drew to the 
shore. Cook landed, and conspicuous honours awaited 
him. The King, Kalaniopuu, was still absent, engaged 
with his conquest in Maui; but the tabu was broken, and 
Cook was treated with a more than regal deference,— a 
demonstration of respect which would have been ludi- 
crous had it not been painful. Heralds announced his 
approach, and opened a way for him through the crowds 
that thronged him. Those among the people who were 
more fearful, peeped at him from the houses, from behind 
stone walls, and from the tops of trees. As he moved, the 
assemblage covered their faces, and those nearest to 
him prostrated themselves on the earth in the deepest 
humihty. As soon as Lono had passed, the people sprang 
up erect, and uncovered their faces; and some among 
them not being rapid in their movements got trod- 
den down by the advancing crowd. The evolution of 
' prostration and erection was found, at last so inconve- 
nient, and to require so unwonted an agility, that the 
practical-minded people found that they could best 
meet the case by going permanently on their hands and 
feet; and so, at last, the procession chaiDged a good 
deal in character and appearance, and 10,000 men and 
women, having little else on them than their nudity, 
were seen pursuing, or flying from, Captain Cook on all 

fours 

One feels ashamed at this ovation ; ashamed at the 
decrradation of one section of humanity bowing down in 
such servile sort to their fellow men; ashamed at one's 
own countryman in his triumph, and for his endurmg the 
profane apotheosis which followed. He was led to the 
chief heiau, or temple, and was presented in great foi^a 
to the idols; was taken to the most sacred part of the 
enclosure, and theD, being placed on a scaffold, ten men, 



cook's apotheosis. 99 

bearing a large hog and some bundles of red doth, 
entered and prostrated themselves before him : he was 
encircled in the cloth, and the hog was offered to him 
in sacrifice, two priests the while chanting an antiphonal 
hymn in honour of Lono. By them he was led to the 
chief idol, which, following their example, he kissed. 

Indeed, in that mad hour. Cook's own degradation 
seems to have been equal to that of his ignorant wor- 
shippers. He was supported by the chief priest and by 
Captain King, and placed between two wooden images ; 
then his face, hands, and arms were anointed with chewed 
coker-nut ; he drank awa—Si drink prepared in a man- 
ner most disgusting to our notions,— and finally he ate 
pork, which had previously been masticated for him by 
an old man. The natives assert that Cook went through 
all these heathen ceremonies without the slightest oppo- 
sition. 

Again, on the 19th, Cook visited another temple or 
residence of priests, taking with him his artist, who 
sketched the scene. He was treated with the same 
honours as before; and always afterwards, when he 
landed from the ships, a priest attended him, and regu- 
lated the religious ceremonies which constantly took 
place on his account. 

A collection of histories, traditions, and Meles was 
made in the early days of the Seminary of Lahainaluna 
by some of the adult pupils, in the native tongue, the 
volume having the name of Ka Moolelo Hawaii. In 
this are recorded some of the circumstances of Cook's 
visit and death in Hawaii. It states, that in conse- 
quence of the people's belief that Lono, for so Cook was 
called by them, was a god, divine honours were paid 
to him, and all the offerings they were accustomed to 
make to their deities, were m.ade in a similar spirit to 

H 2 



YQQ HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

him. During the prevalence of this belief, the island 
was heavily taxed to supply the wants and to contribute 
to the gratification of the officers and crews of the ves- 
sels. The people, as usual, suffered; and the screw of 
despotism, which always pressed on them, received an 
additional turn in order to keep up the supplies lavished 
by the chiefs on their visitors. From the Englishmen's 
point of view all was kindness, liberality, and frankness, 
and it seemed to them that their arrival had produced 
a aeneral jubilee throughout the island. This was only 
in"" appearance. There was a curiosity mixed with 
adoration, and a frivolous mirth, which oppressed people 
easily indulge in ; but to the cultivators, the stay of the 
haole, or foreigner, was a heavy burthen, and whenever 
they found the opportunity, they made reprisals, m the 
way of pilfering, to recoup themselves for their forced 

0*1*5^ "I'll! I 1 (^S 

On the* 24th the King, Kalaniopuu, returned from 
Maui, and a change took place immediately in conse- 
quence. A tabu was proclaimed, the people were 
rigidly confined to their houses, and the ships did not 
receive the customary supply of vegetables, &c. The 
crews endeavoured to make the natives break the tabu ; 
a chief restrained them from doing so, till he was in- 
timidated by a musket-shot fired over his head from the 
ships, and the traffic was made to recommence in defiance 
of the religious restriction. 

Two days afterwards the King, attended by his chiefs 
and by Kamehameha, visited Captain Cook in great 
state. They came in three large double canoes, with 
all barbaric pomp. In the first canoe were the King 
and the royal retinue. They wore their bright cloaks 
and helmets of feathers, the King's being all yellow- 
In their hands were long shining lances. Under the 



MUTUAL CIVILITIES. 



brilliant sun as the paddles of the rowers flashed out of 
the shining water — 

' The helmet and the helmet-feather 
Burn'd like one burning flame together.' 

In the second boat came the high priest and his 
brethren, bringing with them hideous idols— frightful 
caricatures of the human being. The third canoe was 
filled with offerings of swine and fruits. After rowing 
round the two ships to the solemn chanting of the 
priests, the party proceeded to the shore, and landed at 
the observatory, where Cook received them in a tent. 
The King threw over Lono's shoulders his own cloak, 
placed his own helmet on his head, and placed in his ^ / 
hands a curious fan, one of the insignia of royalty. He^ / 
presented other<cloaks of great beauty and value. The 
offerings of pigs and fruit were then made with religious 
rites and responsive chants. The ceremony concluded 
with an exchange of names, the greatest possible pledge 
of friendship. The King and some of his chiefs were 
then carried in the pinnace to the flag-ship, where they 
were received with due honour. Cook gave Kalaniopuu 
a linen shirt, and his hanger or cutlass. This rather re- 
minds the reader of the reciprocity in dealing between 
the Dutch settlers at jS"ew York and the natives there, 
described by Knickerbocker, and the system of weights 
established in buying furs, according to which a Dutch- 
man's hand in one scale was a pound, and his foot was 
equivalent to two pounds. 

Profound silence reigned in the bay during these 
ceremonious visits ; no canoe was afloat ; and on shore 
the few inhabitants who were visible were lying prostrate 
on the ground. Afterwards, at Captain Cook's request, 
the tabu was removed as far as related to the Kino-'s 



IQ2 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

male subjects, but the females were still interdicted all 
communication. 

On shore, the followers of Lono who wandered about 
the island, alone or in companies, continued to receive 
kindness and hospitality. The natives could not, how- 
ever, deny themselves the enjoyment of pilfering a 
little ; and this infraction of the rights of meum and 
tuum, seen by the white men on the meum side, led to 
some small shot being fired at the offenders, and to the 
flogging a native on board the 'Discovery.' Our country- 
meii seem to have inaugurated a reign of liberty in that 
oppressed country,— under which the natives had a per- 
fect freedom to give, but were not at all free to take. 

Probably, by this time familiarity with Lono and his 
followers, and the expensive nature of such intercourse, 
were producing changed ideas in the natives' minds re- 
specting him. The Deus ex machind measured but the 
height of a man, and exhibited in several particulars 
very human tendencies. Most of us are, intellectually, 
inclined to the deification of members of our race— to 
entertain — 

« proud views of human kind, 
Of men to gods exalted and refined ;'— 

' And to make idols, and to find them clay—' 

and to feel the consequent disappointment ;— and when 
at last our eyes are opened, and the idol, despised 
and broken,' lies in fragments at our feet, we are 
sometimes apt to resent the misplacement of our 
reverence, and the exhibition we have given of our 

credulity. 

A huge mistake was committed, which precipitated 
the unfavourable impressions commencing in the natives' 
minds. On the 2nd of February, Captain King, on the 



cook's IlSTEr.COURSE WITH THE NATIVES. 103 

part of Captain Cook, requested of the priests to pur- 
chase the wooden fence which surrounded the top of the 
heiau, or temple, for fuel. It was hot refused; the 
wood was given, and nothiug was demanded in return 
for it. Many idols were attached to, or leaned against, 
the wooden fence of the temple, and these were also 
carried with it to the ships' boats. King says that he 
from the first doubted the propriety of the request he 
had conveyed ; and fearing that the taking away the 
idols would be looked upon as an impious act, spoke on 
the subject to the high-priest ; but the latter simply 
requested that the central figure might be restored. It 
is possible that though no open opposition or resentment 
was shown for an act so much in conflict with the 
reverence felt by the natives towards their divinities 
and their temples, it was because they looked upon the 
living Lono with still greater reverence and fear; or 
that the 

* double sacrilege on things divine, 
To rob the altar and deface the shrine,' 

struck them dumb by its profane audacity. 

Ledyard's narrative of this event differs from Captain 
King's. He says that Cook offered for the fence two 
hatchets, which were indignantly refused; and, upon the 
refusal, he ordered his men to break down the fence and 
carry it to the boats, he clearing the way for them; that 
the images were taken off and destroyed by a few 
seamen, in presence of the priests and chiefs, who had 
not sufficient resolution to make resistance, — that the 
hatchets were again offered, but were again refused; 
that Cook insisted on their receiving them, and thrust 
them into the folds of the priest's garment to whom he 
spoke, and who trembled with emotion; and that mean- 
while a concourse of natives assembled, expressed theii- 



104 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

sense of the wrong in no quiet mood, and even at- 
tempted to replace the fence and the idols, which, how- 
ever, in spite of their resistance, were safely conveyed 

on board. 

Other causes of dissatisfaction followed. The rudder 
of the ' Eesolution' had been sent on shore for repairs. 
The master's mate, who had it in charge, requested 
assistance from the natives in carrying it. In giving 
this help the natives, either in frolic or by design, 
worked confusedly, and several of them were struck 
by the mate. A chief who was present interposed, 
the people mocked the white men, and stones were 
.thrown. The English seamen, seizing some wooden 
treenails, struck the natives with them about their 
heads and shoulders. The fray increasing, a guard of 
marines was ordered from the ship; but they were 
furiously pelted with stones, and retired, leaving the 
ground in possession of its rightful owners. 

The death of one of the ship's company, and his 
burial on shore, by proving Lono's followers to be 
mortal, still further reduced the natives' faith in the 
divine origin of their visitors. The very eupeptic con- 
dition of the white men, their voracious appetites, might 
not have militated against that idea; but the quantity 
of food which they daily consumed became highly incon- 
venient; the island was heavily taxed to provide the 
necessary supplies the ships required, and the Hawahans 
became alarmed by the prospect of a famine. ^ When 
our countrymen came to be regarded in the light of 
locusts, their presence, in spite of their higher civilisa- 
tion, was looked upon as undesirable; and the news 
that the ships were about to sail, created such genuine 
pleasure, that the people joyfully collected and took 
on board a farewell present of food, cloth, and other 



THE SHIPS OBLIGED TO RETURN. 105 

articles, exceeding in quantity and value anything which 
they had previously offered. They received nothing 
in return for this munificent gift, unless an exhibition 
of fireworks was considered an equivalent for this and 
other favours. The pyrotechnical display created among 
the natives the greatest astonishment and alarm. 

On the 4th the ships set sail; but being becalmed in 
sight of land during that day and the following, the 
King sent off another present of hogs and vegetables. 

It would have been well if intercourse between the 
white and coloured races had then been discontinued 
for a season. It is possible that lapse of time might 
have softened into a pleasing picture the realities of a 
visit in which good and ill were mingled. The bene- 
fits of that intercourse would, perhaps, have been re- 
membered; the evil overcome and forgotten. After 
a time the natives mio-ht have desired to see ag-ain the 
wonderful moving islands and their inhabitants who 
were armed with such extraordinary powers. On their 
first visit the white people were beheld with astonished 
curiosity; at another approach they might have been 
welcomed with a desire to learn from them. 

Unfortunately it happened otherwise. A week after 
sailing, the ships returned and anchored again in Kea- 
lakeakua Bay. As the ' Kesolution ' had sprung her 
foremast in a gale, the spar and some damaged sails 
were sent on shore to be repaired, under a small guard 
of marines, whose tents were pitched in the Jieiaiu they 
had occupied before, and the priests protected the place 
by proclaiming it tahu. The silence, the absence of 
welcome, struck Cook, and he sent to inquire the cause 
of the change. He was informed that the King was 
absent, and had left the bay under a strict tabu. Some 
degree of intercourse was at length reestablished with 



106 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the natives of both sexes, and it is probable that con- 
nections formed by the sailors excited the jealousy of 
the men. Already, at the first visit, a blow had been 
struck at the integrity of their religion, such as it was. 
Whilst the chiefs had preserved the tabu on the heiau 
in which were situated the English observatory and 
workshop, with the utmost strictness, the seamen broke 
through the protective restriction themselves, and caused 
the native women to do the same by entering the 
enclosure at night. The latter did this at first with 
fear and trembling, but they perceived that they had 
done so with impunity, and no indignant god had 
avenged himself of the profanation. Thus the edifice 
of superstition received a preliminary shake. There 
remained, however, a general feeling of disapprobation 
on the part of the natives at the sacrilege they had wit- 
nessed, for the hospital and sail-loft had occupied the 
most sacred part of the heiau. As soon as the English 
had taken their departure on the first occasion, the house 
so used was burnt. 

There was a pervading irritation in the minds of the 
Hawaiians. It showed itself in disputes about the 
traffic which recommenced. On the 13th of February, 
some chiefs ordered the natives who were engaged 
watering the ships, to disperse. The latter then armed 
themselves with stones, as if for some attack. ' On Capt. 
King and a marine approaching, the stones were put 
aside, and the work continued; and Cook on being in- 
formed of the occurrence gave orders that if the natives 
threw stones or behaved insolently they should be fired 
upon with ball. 

If we were writing the history of English adventure 
and daring, we should probably justify and even applaud 
every action of our countrymen, — as exhibiting the 



CAUSES OF QUARREL. 107 

resolution and skill by which they were guided under 
all circumstances and in every emergency. The rights, 
the property, the feelings, the religion of native races, 
would only be the rudel3^-painted scenes before which 
the Briton enacted his noble part to an admiring 
audience. But writing some transactions which form to 
a native race part of its history, we cannot look with 
exclusive favour on one of the two performers ; we even 
place ourselves in the position of regarding the action 
of the piece from a different point of view. 

New causes of offence quickly arose. The same day 
some musket shots were fired at a canoe from the 
' Discovery.' The English narrative states that a theft 
was the occasion of this act: the natives relate that the 
foreigners seized a canoe belonging to a chief named 
Palea, who, whilst endeavouring to recover it, was 
knocked down by one of the white men. Cook and 
King did not see this part of the transaction, as they, 
with a marine, were runuing along the beach attempting 
to cut off the canoe by which the theft had been com- 
mitted. Its occupants escaped them and fled into the 
country, pursued by Cook and his two associates, who, 
after a chase of some miles, were obliged to desist. The 
natives on the shore who saw their chief knocked down 
interfered, and with showers of stones drove the seamen 
into the water. The latter swam to a rock out of reach 
of the missiles. The ship's pinnace was taken and 
plundered, and would have been destroyed, had not 
Palea, on recovering from the effects of the blow he 
had received, exerted his' authority. He drove the 
natives away, made signs to the sailors to come and 
take away their boat, and restored to them all the 
articles which could be recovered, expressing his regret 
at the affray. 



108 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

The local wound was healed for the moment, but there 
remained the deeper smart of mutual suspicion. Cook 
ordered every islander to be turned out of the ships, 
and doubled the guard at the heiau. At midnight a 
native who was seen skulking about its walls was fired 
at; and during the darkness, Palea, either to avenge 
himself of his blow, or for the sake of the iron fasten- 
ings, stole one of the 'Discovery's' cutters, which was 
moored to a buoy. 

The morning which dawned calmly on that fair bay 
was Sunday. It was doomed to be neither a day of 
rest nor of peace. Cook resolved to recover the stolen 
boat, and for that purpose he determined to secure the 
King or some of the royal family, and retain them on 
board until it was restored. He also gave orders that if 
the cutter should not be recovered, every canoe was to 
be seized which endeavoured to leave the bay. The 
expedition on shore would probably have been led by 
Clarke, the second in command, but being ill, he 
requested that Cook would undertake the duty; and so 
it happened that the adventurous discoverer set his 
foot on the shore which in a few hours was to witness 
his death and to refuse him a grave. 

When in the year 1823, Mr. Ellis made his visit to 
Hawaii, he found many persons at Kealakeakua and 
other parts of the island who were present themselves 
at Cook's death, or were well acquainted with its circum- 
stances. By the accounts these people gave Mr. Ellis, 
and from the collection made at Lahaina-luna, the Ka 
Moolelo Hawaii previously mentioned, the native version 
of this transaction is distinctly preserved. Their plain, 
unvarnished tale, is told in sorrow, not in anger, and 
without justification of themselves. They state that 
Cook, having come on shore and had an interview with 



NATIVE ACCOUNT OF COOKS DEATH. lO'J 

Kalaniopuu, the two walked together towards the shore, 
Cook designing to take the King on board his ship and 
detain him there till the missing boat should be restored. 
The people seeing this, and having their suspicions 
already roused, thronged round, and objected to the 
King's going farther. His wife, too, entreated that he 
would not go on board the ships. Kalaniopuu hesitated ; 
and whilst he was standing in doubt, a man came run- 
ning from the other side of the bay, crying, ' It is war ! 
The foreigners have fired at a canoe from one of their 
boats, and killed a chief.' On hearing this the people 
became enraged, and the chiefs were alarmed, fearing 
that Cook would put the King to death. Again his 
wife, Kanona, used her entreaties he would not go on 
board, and the chiefs joined with her, the people in the 
meantime arming themselves with stones, clubs, and 
spears. The King sat down; and Capt. Cook, who 
seemed agitated, began walking towards his boat. Whilst 
doing so, a native attacked him with a spear. Cook 
turned, and with his double-barrelled gun shot the man 
who struck him. Some of the people then threw 
stones at the Englishman, which being seen by his men 
in the boats, they fired on the natives. Cook endeavoured 
to stop the firing, but on account of the noise he was 
unable to do so. He then turned to speak to the people 
on shore, when some one stabbed him in the back wdth 
a pahoa, or dagger, and at the same time a spear was 
driven through his body. He fell into the water, and 
spoke no more. 

This account agrees very nearly with Captain King's. 
King believed, however, that he received the thrust of the 
dagger whilst speaking to the boats to stop firino-, and 
that whilst his face was turned towards shore none of 
the natives offered him any violence; so that his 



110 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

humanity in wishing to prevent more bloodshed cost 
him his life. 

Thus fell Cook in mid career. It causes regret to 
think that his life was unnecessarily thrown away 
through some failure in judgment and some faults of 
temper, which his attached friend, King, admits ' might 
have been justly blamed.' Had he lived longer he might 
have added more discoveries to his already brilliant list, 
but his fame would not have increased. The memory 
of great men usually gains when its light is contracted 
within a short compass, and when life terminates sud- 
denly in its zenith. It is like the lustrous fracture of a 
mineral ore. About half-a-million of persons die in 
Great Britain every year. They go to the grave and 
are foro-otten : but oar maritime nation looks back with 
a fond tenacity of memory to some who have won them- 
selves a name in different paths of honour and adventure. 
Hundreds of lives have been hazarded to gain tidings 
of an Arctic explorer ; and English youth still throws 
aside more modern books to read of Cook or the lost 
La Perouse. 



Ill 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE SEQUEL OF COOK's DEATH— SHESEQUENT VISITS. 

rjlHE native account sajs that when the crowd which 
-L was about Cook and the King, Kalaniopuu, heard 
of the death of Kalimu, the chief who was shot in the 
canoe, it became clamorous for revenge; and one of 
the people with a short dagger in his hand approached 
the captain, who, fearing danger, fired at him with his 
gun. A general contest began, and Cook struck a chief 
named Kalaimano-Kahoowaha with his sword. This 
powerful warrior seized him with one hand to hold him, 
not with any idea of taking his life, for supposing him' 
to be the god Lono he believed him incapable of death. 
Cook, being about to fall, cried out, which dispelled the 
chiefs belief in his divinity, and he therefore killed 
him. The seamen in the boat fired on the natives, 
many of whom were cut down, and guns were dis- 
charged from the ship, by which more of the people 
were killed. The King then fled inland, to the preci- 
pice, with his chiefs and people, taking with them the 
bodies of Cook and four of his companions who had been 
slain. The King presented Cook's body in sacrifice : 
the flesh was afterwards removed from the bones in 
order to preserve them, and the flesh was consumed 
with fire. Three children, whose names are known, 
found the heart, and mistaking it for that of a dog, at© 



112 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

it. Some of Cook's bones were returned to the ship ; 
the rest were retained by the priests and worshipped. 

The account of the whole transaction given by Led- 
yard, who was near his commander when he fell, though 
fuller and more explanatory, does not differ in any 
material points from the native narrative — indeed, 
not more than do any two independent histories of 
one transaction. The English version gives some names 
and circumstances which did not come within the 
islanders' knowledge. Lieutenant Phillips, who had 
landed his marines to support Cook, was close to the 
latter, who when he was stabbed, fell with his face 
downwards into the water, the margin of which he 
had reached, and immediately expired. Phillips, 
who was a fine swordsman, threw down his fusee, 
and engaging the chief who had stabbed Cook, 
dispatched him with his sword. His guard by this 
time were all killed, except two, who swam to the 
boats, leaving the Lieutenant alone opposed to the 
natives. His°brave defence astonished the people who 
were attacking him; but being at last wounded and 
faint, he plunged into the sea sword in hand, and was 
taken on board the boats. As soon, however, as he was 
safe, one of the marines, who had swum from shore, was 
seen lying at the bottom of the water. The wounded 
officer hearing this, ran aft, plunged again into the sea, 
and brought the man to the surface, and both were taken 

into the boat. 

Captain King was on the other side of the bay, where 
the observatory was situated, and where the mast and 
sails of the ' Eesolution ' had been landed. As soon as 
the news arrived there of the affray, the natives com- 
menced an attack upon the small force in charge, but 
were repulsed, and a truce was agreed to, during which 



SEQUEL TO cook's DEATH. 113 

the property of the ship was carried on board. All 
reverence for the English was now at an end. Insult 
and injuries followed. The natives erected a breastwork 
on the beach and sent the women into the interior. 
Two men, however, brought off to the ship a portion of 
Cook's remains, and mentioned that the rest of his flesh 
had been burnt and that his bones were in possession of 
the chiefs. In consequence of some taunts and bravadoes 
the crews fired on the natives with the great guns, kill- 
ing some of them, and slightly wounding the youno- 
Kamehameha. * 

On the 17th boats were sent on shore, under fire of 
the guns, to water the ships. The natives attacked and 
annoyed the party thus engaged, and they in return, set 
fire to some houses, which led to the destruction of the 
whole village. All forbearance seems to have been lost, 
and the English seamen gave way to their cruel and 
unchastened passions. They even fired on a man who 
approached them with the insignia of peace, and was 
attended by a dozen boys. IS^ot daunted by the fire of 
the English, the herald reached the commanding officer, 
and proved to be the priest who had on all occasions 
shown himself the friend of Captain Cook. He came to 
expostulate on the ungrateful treatment which he and 
his brethren had received. Eelying on a promise made 
when the natives carried some remains of the com- 
mander on board, that persons and property of the priests 
should be respected, they did not remove their effects, 
as did others, to a place of security, and now their trust 
was rewarded by the loss of their -all. 

Such is the natural levity, of the Hawaiian cha- 
racter and the shallowness of Hawaiian feelings, that 
;hroughout these hostilities numbers of native women 
•emained on board the ships, showing no concern when 

I 



J 14 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the heads of their countrymen were brought off to the 
vessels; and only remarking when the village was 
burning, that it was a very fine sight. 

At last, the next evening, messengers were sent from 
shore to sue for peace, brmging their usual presents. 
The conditions required were that the remains of Cook 
should be restored. The messengers stated that the 
bodies of the marines who fell had been burnt, except 
the limb-bones, which were in the possession of the in- 
ferior chiefs, and that Kamehameha had the hair of 
Captain Cook. Amongst the presents of provisions 
which were sent to the ships that night were two from 
the injured but forgiving priest. We cannot scan 
motives; but if this lenity and generosity proceeded 
from the reverence he bore to his supposed Lono, it is 
an instance of religious consistency and forbearance not 
very common even in Christian lands. 

The next day, all the bones of Cook which could be 
recovered were brought on board, wrapped in fine tajpa 
and adorned with black and white feathers ; and on the 
21st a high chief came, bringing Cook's gun, his shoes, 
and some other trifling articles. He informed the com- 
manders that six chiefs had been killed, some of them 
being the best friends the English had among the natives. 
On the 21st, the remains of their commander having 
been solemnly committed to the deep, the ships sailed 
from the bay. They touched at Oahu on the 27th, and 
proceeded to Kauai, their first station. Here they did 
not receive a cordial welcome. A disease had been im- 
planted among the natives, when the ships first visited 
them, which had occasioned deaths and much suffering. 
Some' goats which Cook had left thinking they might 
be useful on the island, proved to be a gift of Ate, and 
created a contention which ended in a battle. No longer 



A HERO WITHOUT A MONUMENT. II5 

under the restraint which superstitious reverence for 
Lono occasioned, the common people acted towards the 
English in a troublesome and aggravating manner. On 
the 12th the exploring vessels finally took leave of the 
islands. 

No sufficient monument has been raised to the great 
navigator who fell on the shore of Hawaii. A hundred 
yards from the fatal beach, part of a cocoa-nut tree has 
been set up in a bed of loose stones and broken lava, on 
which successive visitors have fixed sheets of copper, 
with inscriptions punched upon them. Mr. Hill on his 
visit copied them and gives them in his volume, the 
earliest being that of Lord George Paulet. The last 
plate reads as follows : — 

' Near^ this spot feU Capt. James Cook, E.N., the renowned 
navigator, who discovered this island a,d. 1778. His 
Majesty's Ship " Imogine," October 17th, 1837.' 

Whether the orthography of the ship's name depended 
on the ship's carpenter who punched it on the copper 
or is the error of the copyist, is not discoverable. 

About a mile from the bay, at an elevation of five 
hundred feet above the sea, is another equally unosten- 
tatious monument. It consists of a post, ten feet hi^h 
set m loose blocks of lava and enclosed in a wall of the 
same material. The visit commemorated on the copper 
plate the post bears is in all probability that of Lord 
-Byron m the ' Blonde^ : — 

' In the memory of Capt. James Cook, R.N., who discovered this 
IS and A.D. 17/8, this humble monument is erected by his 
fellow-countrymen a.d. 1825.' 

An attempt has lately been made to raise a more suit- 
able memorial to Cook's fame. Her Majesty's late Con- 
sul and Commissioner in the Sandwich Islands, General 



116 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Miller, was active in promoting this object when illness 
compelled him to leave Oahu for a time. In England, 
a few names appeared in an announcement in the 
' Times ' responsive to a not uninteresting call ; but no 
success appears to have attended the effort made. 

Cook had named the group The Sandwich Islands, 
after his patron, John, Lord Sandwich, First Lord of 
the Admiralty in Lord North's Administration. It does 
not appear that there had been any collective native 
name for the ten islands. Of these the largest was 
called by the inhabitants Hawaii ; and the discoverers 
hearing the demonstrative article ' ' used, ' Hawaii,' 
' This Hawaii,' understood it as being part of the name ; 
which soft vocable they wrote Owhyhee— not a bad pho- 
netic equivalent. At present when the word Hawaii is 
used there, it indicates the great island of that name, 
whilst when the whole group is iDtended it is expressed 
^ Hawaii-nei,— g.(^., ' AH this Hawaii.' 

It redounds to the honour of our own nation as well 
as to that of the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, that 
the blood-red dawn of intercourse, the violent death of an 
eminent officer of our navy and some English seamen on 
their shores, the wrongs and sufferings which unques- 
tionably the aborigines received at our hands, have issued 
not in strife and acts of war and hatred, but, generally 
speaking, in works of beneficence on our side, and on 
theirs in respect and gratitude. Our sovereigns personally, 
and their government, have shown on many occasions 
crreat kindness and consideration to the Hawaiian people 
and their rulers ; have taken a parental and rather un- 
usual interest in a nation which in its nonage exhibited 
strength and many fine qualities, and which thirsted for 
that civilisation which they were able to bring to its 
shores. The Hawaiians have answered these benefits with 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS. 117 

a genuine and long-continued affection that is almost 
filial ; and they have, on more than one occasion, de- 
sired to place themselves under the English rule by 
ceding the islands to us. England has within the las't 
few years seen the necessity or the duty of refusing 
several such offers, when, if ambition only were her 
impulse, she might have spangled her robe with island 
possessions.* 

The effect which the account of Cook's death pro- 
duced in Europe was so unfavourable that, in spite 
of the ardent description given in the journals of the 
expedition of the beauty and fruitfulness of the islands, 
no ships visited them for some years. They were set 
down as being a nation of savage barbarians, cruel, 
revengeful, and were even accused of cannibalism. The 
war with America, too, occupied men's minds, and pro- 
bably indisposed them for adventurous voyages which 
might be productive of much interest, but of little 
immediate profit. During their unvisited period the 
islands were the theatre of long and destructive wars. 
The true history of Hawaii takes its rise in these fierce 
commotions; amidst the grim and bloody scenes of 
which we begin to see a moving figure, a warrior of 
sterner stuff and of higher aim than the rest, who rose to 
be a leader of men, who by his talents and powerful 
Avill united at last all the separate islands into one 
kingdom, and became the founder of the present dy- 
nasty. This, at the time of which we are now writing, 
was the youthful chieftain Kamehameha. 

Among the causes of the rapid decrease of population 
in the Hawaiian Islands, the wars of this conqueror, then 

* Latterly we may instance Eorneo, and the whole Feejan Archipelago, 
consisting of two hundred beautiful islands, which were unconditionally 
offered to this country a few years ago. 



118 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, 

commencing, and long continued, have a conspicuous 
place. Cook estimated the islands to contaiu 400,000 
people; but he probably overstated the real number, 
as his data were superficial and deceptive. If at 
most places where he touched, he saw a crowd upon 
the beach and fleets of canoes, it must be remem- 
bered that many of the same individuals would make 
their appearance at the several bays, flocking there 
out of curiosity and from other motives. Unquestion- 
ably, the islands were once comparatively thickly peo- 
pled. This is seen by the traces of old cultivation, and 
of public works ; but it appears doubtful whether within 
the last century the population ever amounted to the 
mass Cook supposed. The subject of the disappearance 
of the native race is one so important that it will be 
treated of in a separate chapter. 

It is not intended in this place to enter upon the 
internal history of the islands, which will be slightly 
sketched hereafter, and we proceed to enumerate the 
other visitors there before commerce was regularly 
established. The first ships which arrived were two 
traders from London, the ' King George ' and ' Queen 
Charlotte,' under the command of Captains Portlock and 
Dixon, the former of whom had accompanied Captain 
Cook in his last voyage. This visit was in 1786. The 
conduct of the natives was at first unsatisfactory, but 
the vessels touched at four of the islands, and, eventu- 
ally, a fair system of barter was set up. In the autumn 
of the same year the ships returned. When off Maui, 
they picked up a canoe with four men in it in an ex- 
hausted state ; the sufferers were restored by the Eng- 
lish crews, treated with great kindness and presented 
with gifts. On their being put on shore, they were 
able to tell the story of the white men's humanity. 



TISITS OF LA PEROUSE AND OTHERS. 119 

Captain Portlock seems to have felt the attraction of the 
islands, for in December we j&nd the ships still there, 
the chiefs at Kauai showing much kindness and libe- 
rality. Captain Portlock touched at the same islands in 
October of the following year. 

About the same time we have a momentary view of 
La Perouse, as he vanishes into his silent fate. He 
anchored his frigates near Lahaina, on the windward 
side of Maui, on May 28, 1786, remaining there only 
two days, but sufficiently long to form a favourable 
opinion of the inhabitants, and to suppose that in their 
shrewd turn for barter he found indications of former 
communications with the Spaniards. Forty years after- 
wards the remains of this interesting navigator's ships 
were discovered on the islands of the New Hebrides. 

The next recorded visit was that of two merchant 
captains, Meares and Douglass, in the 'Nootka' and the 
^ Iphigenia,' in August 1787. A chief, Kaiana, sailed 
with the former to Canton, and the friendship formed 
on that occasion was the means two years after of 
saving the ' Iphigenia,'— some chiefs of Hawaii having 
formed a plan for seizing the ship, but the plot was dis- 
closed by Kaiana. The ambitious Kamehameha obtained 
from Captain Douglass, in one of many visits which he 
made during two years, a swivel gun, some smaller 
fire-arms, and some ammunition. 

The grim stories which had circulated after Cook's 
death in relation to the Sandwich Islands were now dis- 
pelled, and numerous ships from England and America 
sailed thither and commenced the trade which has en- 
larged and continued to the present time. The islands 
were, however, in a state of chronic war; and when 
men's minds are agitated by one evil raging passion, other 
passions are easily evoked as wicked as the first. Thus, 



120 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

in the spring of 1790 an event happened which stains 
the page with its story of cupidity and revenge. 

The American ship 'Eleanor' arrived at Hawaii in 
the autumn of 1789, and remained there, trading, all 
the winter. In the following February, she proceeded 
to Maui, and anchored at Honuaula. Two chiefs of a 
neighbouring district stole the ship's boat during the 
night, whilst it was moored under the vessel's stern, the 
watchman in it having fallen asleep. On his waking 
he endeavoured to give an alarm, and on doing this a 
second time he was killed by one of the natives. The 
boat was successfully taken away, and was broken up 
to extract the iron it contained, and which was the 
object for which it was stolen. Captain Metcalf then 
attacked the village, killed one man and took two others 
prisoners, and ascertained that the real depredators had 
come from a place on the coast named Oloalu. Thither 
he proceeded, planning on his way a great and signal 
vengeance. The seaman's life which had been taken 
was perhaps expiated already by the blood shed in 
return; but the boat, with its oars and its rollocks, its 
iron bolts and the copper on its gunwale, cried aloud 
for a larcfer veno^eance, a wider destruction of human 
life. On coming to an anchor at Oloalu a strict tabu 
was found to prevail there. Death by burning was the 
fate of any native who should put off to the ship in a 
canoe. However, the bones of the murdered seaman 
and some remains of the ravished boat, a reward for 
both which had been offered by Metcalf, were delivered 
up to him, and the innocent or ignorant natives asked 
for the proffered reward. They had not yet read the 
fable of the Stork, aud the Fox which had swallowed a 
bone. The American captain meditated a baMiief and 
formed a design similar to that by which Jehu slew all 



THE * ELEANOR ' AND THE 'FAIR AMERICAN.' 121 

Baal's idolatrous priests. ' Yes, you shall have a reward. 
As soon as the tahii is removed, come to me, and I will 
give you even more than you ask ! ' Multitudes of people 
hastened round the ship in their canoes to trade. They 
were all made to lie on the starboard side, and when all 
was ready, Metcalf, standing in the gangway, gave the 
command, and a large gun loaded with musket balls 
and nails was run out and fired into the midst of the un- 
suspecting fleet — the terrible destruction being aided by 
volleys of musketry and small arms. One hundred 
natives were killed, besides a vast number wounded. 
This great victory having been achieved, Metcalf sailed 
for Hawaii; and the bolts and nails of the ship's boat 
seemed now really avenged. One gives a sigh of relief 
at remembering that by the Declaration of Independ- 
ence all fellow-citizenship between this miscreant and 
ourselves had formally ceased. 

But the page of retribution is not yet complete. The 
'Eleanor' was accompanied by a small schooner called 
the ' Fair American,' the crew of which, consisting o^ 
five men, was commanded by Metcalf s son, a youth of 
eighteen. The schooner proceeded to Hawaii, and not 
falling in with the 'Eleanor,' anchored in Kawaihae 
bay. A high chief of the island had, for some trifling 
offence, been flogged by the elder Metcalf on board his 
ship. Kameeimoku had nourished his burning shame 
and rage, and had resolved to revenge himself on the 
first white men that fell into his power. And now the 
white sails of the little schooner appear in the offing, 
and the ' Fair American,' like a new Iphigenia, anchors 
in the fatal bay. The chief with his people boarded her, 
bringing presents, and suddenly they seize young Met- 
calf and throw him overboard, and massacre all the crew, 
except one man, Isaac Davis, whose wounds the natives 



122 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

bound up, and carried him on shore, where he was kindly 
treated. The schooner was stranded and plundered. 

So strangely is woven the web of events, and so often 
do we see a hand ' out of evil still educing good,' that 
we find the shocking transactions just recorded issuing, 
through apparently small channels, in the after history 
of the islands, and connecting themselves with the pros- 
perity and peace of the kingdom. Isaac Davis lived to 
be of service in the islands, and to obtain the respect 
and love of the people. He received presents of valu- 
able lands near the sea, and was raised by Kamehameha 
to the rank of a high chief. Another seaman became a 
prisoner in Hawaii at the same time, whose after history 
is still more interesting and important than that of 
Davis. This was John Young, boatswain of the ' Eleanor.' 
He had gone on shore about the time of the * Fair 
American's' seizure, and on attempting to return was 
forbidden to do so by the King. The 'Eleanor' re- 
mained two days in Kealakeakua bay, firing guns as 
signals for Young to return on board; but he was not 
allowed to leave the island, and the vessel sailed with- 
out him. Young became afterwards the trusty servant 
of Kamehameha. Seamen of that day, as of this, were 
not conspicuous for their education or moral discipline; 
yet these two men had lived in lands where law and 
civilisation were the atmosphere which all breathed; 
and with faults almost equal to those of barbarians, they 
could not but carry with them some degrees of know- 
ledge and discipline which were not barbaric. Though in 
their own country their slight acquirements and imper- 
fect training showed but as a candle at noonday, yet 
when brought into comparison with uncivilised abori- 
gines, these men, by virtue of that slight education, were 
like the same candle shining in a dark room. Some 



JOHN young's influence. 123 

Christian virtues, too, adhered to their natures, as the 
jewels stuck to the flesh which Sindbad threw into the 
valley of diamonds. Young's career will necessaril}^ 
form part of the sketch of internal Hawaiian history 
v^hich is to follow, and it is sufficient to say of him here 
that he was found faithful, and that he returned the 
generosity of his patron and the confidence which was 
reposed in him in the very best way. His character 
seems to have risen to the emergency, and to have re- 
acted with a humane influence upon the strong but 
passionate nature of the despotic King he served. His 
position was also influential as respected his own country- 
men and other foreigners who visited the islands; and 
the last point of interest about him to be noticed is that 
he was the grandfather of the present young and 
admirable Queen Emma. 

At first the two unwilling settlers made many attempts 
to get away from the islands ; but they were jealously 
watched, and upon one occasion being caught whilst 
endeavouring to go on board a vessel would have lost 
their lives, had it not been for the determined inter- 
ference of the King. The latter, though ambitious and 
covetous of power, was made of nobler stuff than many 
of the chiefs, and was open to the counsel and the per- 
suasions of his two white advisers. He resisted and 
overcame several plans of Kaiana and others for seizing 
foreign vessels, though the motive for such robbery was 
very stroDg — that of adding ships to his own navy. 
The ' Eleanor ' herself only escaped seizure, and her crew 
murder, when the chiefs were already on board and 
about to carry out their plan, by the King's going off to 
the ship and compelling the chiefs to leave the vessel. 

We pass on to a visit made by an English voyao-er, who 
to an ardent love for discovery united a noble heart and 



124 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

most humane disposition. It is Vancouver. He had 
sailed with Cook; and now, in 1792, returned himself to 
the islands with the surve3dng vessels ' Discovery ' and 
' Chatham.' The first bay he entered was that in which 
his chief had lost his life ; but he came there with no 
retributive thunders from his guns, but in peace. 
Dropping ' like the gentle dew from heaven,' he coasts 
along the islands, enters the bays, and, in passing, he 
distributes to the chiefs garden seeds and other objects 
which he thought might be useful to the people. Since 
his first visit in 1778, fourteen years before, an extensive 
depopulation had taken place throughout the group. 
This was due to constant internal wars, and to imported 
disease. The disposition of the natives had not im- 
proved. The greed of gain had entered into their souls, 
and seemed to be the one motive which actuated them 
in their intercourse with the strangers. For this they 
were ready to prostitute their wives and daughters, and 
to display wantonness in so gross a form that it had the 
effect of producing disgust and repulsion. Of the chiefs 
Vancouver had formerly known, one alone remained, 
and that was Kamehameha. 

His arrival and stay in the islands is. a good deal 
mixed up with their political history ; but as a slight 
historical sketch is to be given separately, the internal 
events of the kingdom will only be noticed incidentally 
and when unavoidable. Vancouver found a foreign 
trade already commencing, principally in the hands of 
Americans, and confined to the islands of Hawaii and 
Kauai, or, as it is spelt in his narrative, Atoovai. The 
articles sought for were sandal-wood and furs: the former 
grew abundantly in the mountain districts ; the latter 
would be sought for in vain, considering that the only 
native animals were hogs, rats, and dogs. The English 



VANCOUVER S INTERCOUESE. 125 

who came to tlie islands were in pursuit of pearls. These 
were found there, but not in abundance, and were of 
three colours, white, yellow, and lead-hued. Vancouver 
speaks in terms of praise of Kamehameha, of his good 
faith, and the kindness he received from him. The 
King accompanied him from the east to the south-east 
of Hawaii, whence Vancouver saw the smoke ascending 
from the mountain range which culminates in the great 
peak of Mauna Loa. He describes the priests of Pele 
as a religious order who performed volcanic rites, sacri- 
ficing fire productions of the country to propitiate the 
enraged deity who presided over the burning mountain. 
Among things pilfered from his ships were knives; 
and these were stolen by the natives not so much for 
the steel blades, as for the ivory handles, to be con- 
verted into a species of neck ornament considered sacred, 
and which were ordinarily made of fish-bones. Havino- 
already become acquainted with the productions of 
Europe and America, the islanders had ceased to care 
for objects of mere ornament, and preferred in their 
trafiic cloth, hardware, and useful articles. It has to be 
written with shame, that the white men occasionally 
taught, by example, lessons of dishonesty, and even 
worse faults, during their intercourse with the Hawaiians. 
Scant measure, inferiority of quality in the goods sold, 
and frauds more destructive in their effect, characterised 
at times their dealings. When Laing and Clapperton 
were engaged in their African exploration, they took 
with them, among articles of barter, needles. These 
were properly packed, and labelled ^ Whitechapel Sharps,' 
and had not been examined before being used in trade ; 
but the manufacturer, for the small saving of labour, 
omitted to drill the eyes of the needles; and the few 
shillings gained by the fraud had nearly cost the travellers 



126 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

their lives, so great was the indignation of the tribe 
who took them in exchange when they discovered they 
had been deceived and cheated. In the same way, some 
of the muskets sold to the Hawaiians were so wretched 
that thev burst the first time they were fired, — often 
producing dangerous injuries to those who used them, 
and leaving safety only to those against whom they were 

employed. 

Ill faith on one side may be the model, but it cannot 

be the excuse for malpractices in the other party to a 

transaction. Unquestionably the islanders acted at times 

in accordance with their savage nature, and with a cruelty 

which they had not required to learn from civilised 

nations. On the 11th of May, in the year of Vancouver's 

visit, an English store-ship, the ' Daedalus,' approached 

Oahu, and lay off Waimea, on the north side of the 

island. Its advent seems to have produced all the 

amazement that was excited by Cook's arrival at Hawaii 

in 1778. The first thought of the natives was that the 

coral rocks were floating, and when they saw the officers 

and crew they took them to be gods on account of the 

brightness of their eyes. Unfortunately, whilst the 

seamen were watering the ship, a dispute arose between 

them and the inhabitants which resulted in the death of 

a Portuguese sailor. Lieutenant Hergest, who had charge 

of the shore party, and the astronomer, Mr. Gooch, not 

aware of the fracas^ had wandered to some distance and 

fell into the hands of a lawless band of natives, who, it 

appears, owned allegiance to none of the local chiefs. 

Ao-ain the same process was gone through as with Cook : 

first, there was the belief that the foreigners were 

divine, and belonged to the expected Lono ; then the 
discovery that they were mortals, which seems to have 
been a sufficient signal for attack, and the two unfortu- 



rTTiT)' 



VANCOUVER S EETUIIN TO IIATYAII. 127 

nate officers were killed. The ' Dsedalns ' worked nearer 
land, and fired on shore till evening, when she took her 
departure. The presence of parties of depredators roam- 
ing about the islands was a consequence of the kings 
and chiefs being engaged in their dissensions and wars. 
In February 1793, Vancouver returned to Hawaii. 
He had taken a voyage in the meantime to the north- 
west coast of America, and he had brought from Cali- 
fornia some cattle, intending to leave them at the 
Sandwich Islands, with the benevolent design of their 
introduction there. They had, however, all died on the 
voyage, except a bull and a cow, which he landed, but 
the cow died soon afterwards. Vancouver speaks of 
Kamehameha with much admiration ; he saw him pos- 
sessed of great and unusual qualities, and in his inter- 
course with the famous warrior, he took the opportunity 
of instilling into his mind counsels of wisdom and 
humanity. The King's sagacious mind seized with 
promptitude the opportunities offered him, and he 
seems to have become impressed with the idea of the 
possibility of lighting in his benighted land the lamp 
of civilisation from the torch brought to him by the 
English navigator. Another remarkable person came on 
board Vancouver's ship. This was Kaahumanu, Kame- 
hameha's favourite queen, who plays a conspicuous part 
in the subsequent history of the islands. At the time now 
spoken of she was but sixteen, beautiful in person and 
pleasing in manner. In after life she grew inordinately 
stout ; but the force of her will and character kept pace 
with her bodily dimensions, and made itself felt in the 
mastery she obtained over every one who approached 
her, native or foreigner. Her name, like that of her 
husband's, has become a dynastic title, and is assumed 
by the female premiers to this day. 



128 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Vancouver was able, before be left tbe islands, to 
present Kamebameha witb five cows and some sbeep. 
In return for tbis kind act tbe cbief gave tbe most 
valuable object be possessed, bis own war-cloak, pierced 
witb spear boles, wbicb be desired migbt be made a 
present to Greorge III., witb tbe injunction tbat as no 
otber person tban its possessor had bitberto worn it, so 
it was to grace no otber sboulders tban tbose of tbe 
King of England. Vancouver also made an attempt to 
brino- about peace between tbe inhabitants of Hawaii 
and tbose of tbe otber islands witb wbicb tbey were 
at war. His counsels were listened to respectfully, but 
did not produce tbe desired result ; and tbe chiefs of 
Hawaii, on their part, asked bis assistance in bringing all 
the islands under their dominion, which centralisation 
of government seems to have shown itself to them as 
the only real means of putting an end to hostilities. 
Vancouver proceeded to Maui, and repeated his lessons 
of peace to tbe chiefs at Labaina. At Oabu be earnestly 
lectured the people on the distinctions between right 
and wrong, and impressed upon them the principles of 
justice and humanity. Here was an English seaman, 
unpretendingly, and almost unconsciously, acting as a 
Christian missionary. More than a quarter of a century 
elapsed before tbe seed then scattered showed life and 
put forth leaves; and long before Christianity was 
publicly brought to the islands, Vancouver was sleeping 
in his grave ; but the leaven, hidden, and even forgotten, 
seems, nevertheless, to have been working towards the 
remarkable events of 1819 and 1820. 

To stamp on the native mind the great lesson of re- 
tributive justice, Vancouver considered it proper to 
punish the people of Oabu, for the murder of Lieutenant 
Hero-est, of tbe ' Dsedalus,' Mr Gooch, and the Portu- 



LESSOiNS OF RETRIBUTION. ^29 

giiese sailor. The chiefs of the islands cleared them 
selves before him of any complicity, in the crime ; and 
three men had already been executed by their orders 
for participation in the murder. However, as Vancouver 
determined to bring the matter into the light of day, 
three more men were sent on board his ship and tried \ 
and after evidence which seemed satisfactory as to their 
guilt, sentence was passed on them, and they were 
handed over to their chiefs, by whom they were shot 
before a large concourse of people. It is true that it 
was afterwards affirmed that the three men who were 
thus killed were not the real murderers, and that they 
were sacrificed to appease the English captain's anger. 
If this were so, it is to be regretted that so good a man 
should have made so great a mistake; and that the 
execution which he ordered should have taken effect on 
innocent victims. Vancouver's vessels left the islands 
on the 30th of March. He returned for his last visit in 
January 1794; and among other matters which sig- 
nalized his stay, a vessel was built and rigged, and 
named the 'Britannia.' The work was done by the 
ship's people, assisted by an English carpenter in th:; 
King's employ. Vancouver also brought about a recon^ 
ciliation between Kamehameha and his favourite queen 
Kaahumanu, who had been separated from him through 
jealousy fostered -by unfriendly chiefs. He gave the 
King excellent advice as to the discipline of his troops 
and his political conduct; urged the advantages of 
peace, the folly of idolatry, the oppressive evil ''of the 
tabu system, and made known to him the one true God, 
Creator, Euler, and Judge of all nations and all men. 

Vancouver's visit placed the British in a new and 
more favourable light with the native race. The im- 
pressions of events at and following on Cook's death 



130 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

were in a great measure done away; and the people 
rightly conceived England to be the greatest maritime 
power in the world. As such, they sought her protec- 
tion. They considered that she alone could secure peace 
and the unification of the entire group under the sway 
of the Hawaiian King. That some repressive power 
was needed became apparent before Vancouver left; for 
the inhabitants of Maui made a descent upon Hawaii, 
and though they were driven back, the event seems to 
have been the determining cause of the King and 
chiefs ceding Hawaii to this country. This was done 
on the 25th of February, on which day the chiefs 
assembled on board the ' Discovery,' and Kamehameha 
made a formal declaration of submission to the monarch 
of Great Britain. He was followed by other chiefs, 
who in speeches stated the advantages they expected to 
derive from the cession of their country. 

Mr. James Jackson Jarves, a candid and industrious 
historian, but an American citizen, says, in his account 
of the transaction, that the meeting on board the sloop 
was, ^as the natives with more justice state, "to request 
the King to protect our country." ' That might have 
been the motive, but the act itself was to make an 
absolute cession of the island, not simply to place it 
under a protectorate ; for after the King's declaration. 
Lieutenant Paget went on shore and planted the English 
, colours, and took possession of the island in the name 
of His Britannic Majesty. A salute was fired, and the 
natives shouted, ' Kanaka no Beritane I ' ' We are men 

of Britain.' 

Vancouver left a certificate with Kamehameha record- 
ing the event, and the document was carefully preserved 
for a long time. It ran thus :— ^ beg to inform all 
visitors, that on the 25th February, 1794, at a grand 



CESSION OF HAWAII TO ENGLAND. 131 

council of the principal chiefs of this island, assembled 
on board His Britannic Majesty's ship under my com- 
mand, Kamehameha made the most solemn concession 
of the island of Owhyhee to His Britannic Majesty, his 
heirs, &c.; and himself, with the attending chiefs, unani- 
mously acknowledged themselves subjects to the British 
Crown.' 

Although out of the order of this narrative, it may be 
well to relate here, that a few years afterwards, when 
Kamehameha had gained possession of the islands of 
Maui and Oahu, he wrote to George III., acknowledging 
him as his sovereign; and finally, when he had c'^om- 
pleted the conquest of the entire group, he wrote again 
to that monarch, in the following terms:—* 

'His Most Sacred Majesty George HI., of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the 
Faith, &c., &c. 

' BROTHER,_We, Kamehameha, King of the Sandwich 
Islands, wishing to render every assistance to the ships of his 
most sacred Majesty's subjects who visit these seas, have sent 
a letter by Captain Spence, ship ' Duke of Portland,' to his 
Majesty, since which Timoree, King of Atooi, has dehvered 
his island up, and we are now in possession of the whole of 
the^ Sandwich Islands. We, as subjects to his most sacred 
Majesty, wish to have a seal and arms sent from Britain, so as 
there may be no molestation to our ships or vessels in those 
seas, or any hindrance whatever. Wishing your Majesty a 
long, prosperous, and happy reign,_I am. Brother, 

'Woahoo, August 6, 1810.' 

The reason which Vancouver assigns for the voluntary 

^ The letter is given in a pamphlet by I^Ir.' Alexander Simpson 
^On the Progress of Events, &c., in the Sandwich Islands.' Smith' 
-fc^lder, and Co. 1843. ' 



K 2 



132 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

cession of Owhyliee to H. B. Majesty, and which he 
accepted, is that the inhabitants werenoW commercially 
acquainted with four nations whom they were informed 
were equally powerful with the English, but that they 
deliberately preferred the latter. In making this trans- 
ference of power, great ceremonies were used. Religious 
rites were celebrated in the great Moral, to which 
Vancouver could not be admitted without going through 
certain restrictive observances; one of which was that 
he should not be wetted with sea water, or even sprinkled 
with it; and another, that he was to shun the society of 
those who did not attend the ceremonies or worship in 
the temple. Profound silence reigned in the temple, 
broken only by prayers uttered in the lowest voice, 
scarcely audible, for His Britannic Majesty, &c. The 
King repeats the prayers after the priests in the same 
scarce audible tone; then in the profound silence he seizes 
a hoo*, the legs of which are bound with cords, and dashes 
it to'death on the ground. If the animal had made a 
moan or any sound, the sacrifice would have been 

ineffectual. 

King, and chiefs, and people, were entangled in the 
complex net of idolatry; often chafing under it, yet un- 
able to escape from its meshes. Hitherto they had seen 
no alternative; and to change one system of gods for 
another, was only to pass from bondage into bondage,— 
the inwrought sacerdotalism ruling over and pervading 
equally all the systems. The King and some of the chiefs 
seem, however, to have seen, far-sightedly, that the white 
visitants were animated by other motives than their 
own pagan religion, and that they possessed a highei- 
instruction in morality; and after making the cession of 
their islands to a nation which they, seeing only the 
foot of Hercules, perceived to be great, powerful, and 



APPEAL TO ENaLAND FOR RELIGIOUS TEACHERS. 133 

wise, they requested of Vancouver that on his return to 
England he would procure religious instructors to be sent 
to them from the country of which they now considered 
themselves subjects. Vancouver did not forget the 
earnestness of this appeal; and, on reaching England, 
he urged on the Minister, Mr. Pitt, the advantage of 
sending clergy to Hawaii. That was not a missionary 
age. It was not the accusation of that generation that 
they would compass sea and land to make a proselyte. 
That one prayer for religious light made to this land 
was unattended to and forgotten. The revolution was 
raging in France. Englishmen had shuddered or shed 
tears at the story of a monarch publicly murdered by 
his subjects; and the best excuse that can be offered 
for the cold indifference exhibited when the Hawaiian 
nation asked spiritual help of our country, is that 
England was absorbed by events nearer home, and was 
preoccupied in averting dangers which threatened her 
own stability. 

The prayer for English teachers was unanswered at 
that time. The Hawaiian nation and its ruler continued 
to wear the heavy chain of paganism, and Kamehameha 
did not live to see the introduction of Christianity in 
his kingdom; but the desire expressed in 1793 seems 
to have become traditional, so that when in 1820 the 
first American missionaries arrived in the Sandwich 
Islands, it was enquired whether these were the religious 
instructors whom the King and chiefs expected from 
England. Finding that they were not, there was much 
opposition to their landing; and it was only on the 
assurance of the English settler, John Young, that these 
missionaries came to preach the same religion as those 
whom they expected, that they were permitted to come 
on shore. 



134 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Vancouver took his final leave in March 1794; and 
in 1798 this amiable man closed in death his eminent 
but short career. 

In the year of his departure, Captain Brown, master 
of the English ship ' Butter worth,' discovered and sur- 
veyed the harbour of Honolulu. As arrivals of ships 
became frequent after that time, it ceases to be interest- 
ing to refer further to their visits, with the exception of 
the two made by Captain, afterwards Eear-Admiral, 
Beechey, in H.M.S. ^Blossom.' The volumes containing 
the interesting narrative of his voyages and discoveries 
in the Pacific and Behring's Strait, published in 1831, 
are very well known. Beechey's first visit took place 
in 1826. The 'Blossom' left Tahiti on the 26th of 
April, and arrived at Honolulu on the 20th of May. 
The rapidity of this passage had left the impressions of 
the former island strong on the mind and on the eye, 
and it was the contrasts between the two places which 
first struck the voyagers. They missed the green and 
shady forests which skirted the shores of Tahiti; and 
after intercourse with its effeminate inhabitants, the 
Hawaiians' darker complexion and coarser features, 
together with a wildness of facial expression, impressed 
them at first unfavourably; but they subsequently learned 
to respect these signs of a manliness and boldness which 
were deficient in the Sybaritic people of the more 
southern group. Other symptoms, indicating the foot- 
steps of civilization upon the islands, met their eyes. 
The forts in the harbour, the cannon, the ensign of 
Kamehameha displayed on the ramparts of a fort 
mounting 40 guns, and at the gaff of a man-of-war 
brig and of some other vessels, rendered the distinction 
between the two countries still more evident. Old 
familiar words in their own language greeted them as 



BEECHET's YISITS. 135 

they walked up the town, already laid out in streets and 
squares. In one place was the notice, ^ An Ordinary at 
One o'clock;' at another, ' Billiards;' here was the sign, 
'The Jolly Tar;' there (and we fear at a considerable 
distance), ^ The Grood Woman.' 

The reception naet with from the King and the chiefs 
(including Madam Boki), was friendly in the extreme; 
and as far as possible all the wants of the ship were 
supplied. Some astronomical and other observations 
were taken, and Mr. Lay, the naturalist of the expedi- 
tion, being in ill health, was left under the protection 
of one of the chiefs, who, in compliment to the great 
minister, had adopted the name of Pitt. Early in 
June the * Blossom' sailed for Kamschatka. She returned 
to Honolulu in January 1827. By this time the eti- 
quette of exchanging salutes had been established ; and 
with such forms intercourse was conducted in a land 
where thirty years before the naked savage had strug- 
gled in deadly conflict with armed Englishmen. No doub 
the contrast impressed the visitors, as Eomans from the 
capital would have been impressed who visited Britain 
a century after the Julian invasion, and marked the 
transition taking place in our barbarian ancestors. 
The products of civilized nations had immediately be- 
come a passion with the Hawaiians, and they, being 
very imitative, instituted many things which were pro- 
perly in advance of their then state. There were not 
only hotels at the time of Beechey's visit, but Kaahu- 
manu's furniture numbered sofas and cushions of silk 
and velvet, and she had in her chests (perhaps ward- 
robes), the most costly silks of China. The Chief Boki 
had presented a service of plate to the King, for which 
he had given three thousand dollars. Boki had similar 
services himself; and his glass was from Pellatt and Grreen 



136 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

in London. The King was always attended by a guard 
under arms ; soldiers paced the ramparts of the fort ; 
and in the stillness of the night, there fell on the 
Englishman's ear the soothing and familiar words^ 
' All's Well.' 



137 



CHAPTEE IX. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH ' A DUST OF SYSTEMS ' ' THE 

LONELY ONE.' 

IT would be a waste of time to give more than the 
merest outline of the internal history of Hawaii 
before its intercourse with European nations and with 
America. Each island had its king, its chiefs, its 
dissensions, its ' oppressed nationalities.' To enumerate 
the rulers of the eight islands would be uselessly to 
encumber the page with native names which the reader 
could not pronounce, and would not try to remember. 
All that will be attempted here is to describe very 
rapidly the dynastic condition of the Archipelago; 
dwelling, for a few minutes, on the more salient points 
of its story, in order to show how the eight separate 
fibres of government were twisted into a sino-je thread, 

CD J 

by the wisdom and determination of one man, at about 
the beginning of the present century. 

The bards, however, could recite from memory the 
names of seventy-seven successive kings ; and if only 
five years be allowed to a reign, the traditionary history 
would extend through nearly 400 years. But the 
reigns were probably of greater average length ; since 
the first three Kamehamehas occupied the present 



138 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

century till the year 1854, wlien the late king ascended 

the throne at the age of twenty-one, and reigned ten years. 

An unavoidable pun, arising from dissimilarity of 

languages, must be made in recording that the mother 

of the islands was Papa. She created the Kalo, and 

her history involves the doctrine of metempsychosis. 

It is unnecessary to say that she lived in very early 

times. Descending, in a bound, to a period when a king 

was at least half-man in his nature, we come to Akea, 

the first King of Hawaii. At the termination of his 

reign, he passed into a region beneath, named Kapapa- 

hananaumoku {' the island-bearing stratum '), and there 

founded a kingdom. Akea was succeeded in the 

monarchy by Miru, the Hawaiian Pluto, who, when he 

died, descended to ' that uncomfortable place below,' and 

shared the kingdom with Akea. The subterranean 

realm has been invested by the native traditions with 

strange fanciful poetry. It is a land of darkness. 

Its inhabitants feed upon lizards and butterflies ; they 

drink from streams of water which flow there ; they 

recline beneath wide-spreading Jcou trees and large 

kahiris — (insignia, formed of feathers on a tall handle, 

round which they are set cylindrically). Some of the 

natives described the hades of departed spirits, as ' a 

bourn from which no traveller returns ;' but by others it 

was said, that occasionally a newly-arrived soul, after 

having been questioned by Mira as to the doings and 

pursuits of the kings and people above, was sent back 

to the ao marama, ' region of day,' with a monitory 

message, to desire them to descend to his kingdom. 

These visitations were rare, and little was generally 

known of the land of Kapapahananaumoku except 

what was communicated in dreams and visions of the 

priests. 



KINaLY SUCCESSION. 139 

The Hawaiian kings for many successive generations 
resided frequently at a town called Honaunau, on the 
western side of the island, a little south of the bay 
where Cook met his death. This place was formerly of 
greater importance than it is now. It possesses two 
interesting objects :— the Hare o Keave, a mausoleum 
containing the bones of about eight generations of 
kings ; which bones are carefully cleaned, and tied un 
in bundles. A great number of frightful idols keepl 
guard within and without the regal ossuary. The othe^ 
place of interest is a sacred enclosure adjoining this 
building, being one of the two pohonuas, or cities of 
refuge, which existed on the island of Hawaii. After 
the unification of the islands the King and chiefs resided 
generally at Lahaina or Maui. 

The kingly office was hereditary, but not purely so. 
The King could nominate his successor even though he 
possessed offspring of his own. In matters of succession, 
owing to the great laxity of the marriage tie, the female 
descent was preferred, and a female always occupies the 
next place to the King in the State. Her office is now 
called that of Premier. It is stated in tradition that, 
on two or three occasions, queens have reigned in the 
island ; and among the chiefdom many were, and still 
are, females. There is no reason to doubt that at first, 
as with the beginning of other kingdoms, the strong man 
ruled, and that the Hawaiians, like other nascent 
nations, adopted 

' . . . the simple plan, 
That they should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can,' 

Kings and chiefs having attained this social superiority, 
maintained it with effect. Because they were strong,' 



140 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

they were enabled successfully to fortify their position 
and become yet stronger. They admitted the priest- 
hood to somewhat equal privileges, and they found the 
advantage of having their aid, as they then possessed 
the means of coercing the common people, both by 
bodily force and through mental influences, — those of 
induced fear and superstition. They held the people m. 
the most complete subserviency, and the whole system 
was rigorously feudal. By the tabu, and the plan of 
forced labour, called hana poalima, the chiefs reduced 
the commonalty to a servile and tributary condition ; 
whilst having abundance of food, rest, and shelter them- 
selves, the physical difference between the chiefdom 
and the common people became so marked, that it caused 
a doubt in some observers' -minds whether the chiefs 
could be of the same race with the plebeian population. 
The chiefs, male and female, attained to great height, 
strength, and size, and had in later life a strong tendency 
towards obesity. 

With respect to the Crown, Wilkes* says, that in 
former times there was no fixed succession, and that the 
practice affecting it varied. Even when the right of 
descent became established the rank of the mother was 
an element in deciding the successor. Thus the eldest 
son and daughter of the first Kamehameha, who had 
several wives, were set aside in favour of younger 
children by a wife of higher birth than their mother. 
And with regard to female succession, the same writer 
instances Queen Keokeolani, who, two generations 
before the discovery of the islands by Cook, held the 
throne, although she had several half-brothers, but who 
were of lower rank on their mother's side than her own. 

^ ' Nar. U. S. Exploring Expedition.' 



FOEM OF GOYEENMENT. HI 

The King would also occasionally appoint a younger son 
to be his successor. 

With, all these variations and irregularities, however, 
the nation preserved the pyramidal form, into which all 
societies crystallize with as much certainty as Maldon 
rocksalt. There was the kingly apex ; the chiefs, of 
several grades ; and the great substratum of the people. 
We have had ample and new opportunity lately of seeing 
that the pyramid of society, like that in architecture, is 
the most enduring form — a form of divine original; and 
that when it is attempted to truncate or reverse the 
figure, it falls into flatness and a ruin. 

The King's power was absolute, and the system was 
strictly feudatory. The King gave lands and whole 
districts to chiefs, who, in their turn, lorded it over the 
people in the most arbitrary manner. When the King 
was personally weak, the true power lodged in the chiefs; 
and the King, though still suzerain, was rather in the 
position of a great chief, exercising control over his own 
reserved possessions, but with little influence as a 
monarch. Like John and his barons, he had some- 
times to engage in domestic wars with his feudatories, 
A king of stronger will would claim his true position and 
power, and not remain content with being himself little 
more than primus inter pares. The rank of chiefs, 
priests, and officers of state was hereditary; indeed, 
there seems to have been some approach to caste in the 
continuation of occupations and offices; nevertheless, 
the power of nomination to all offices remained in 
the King, who would occasionally raise men from hum- 
ble rank to the foremost stations. He could create 
Wolseys, when the ' sterner stuff' of which ambition is 
made was not deficient in the subject. Thus Kame- 
hameha raised Karaimoku, surnamed William Pitt, 



142 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

after tlie great Englisliman, his contemporary, to a rank 
second only to his own. This man, originally a chief 
of the third or fourth rank, was advanced to be prime 
minister, and he held, in truth, the actual government 
of the islands. In this and some other cases the dis- 
cernment or the mere affection of the monarch unearthed 
a gem of real value. The same remarkable man was 
equally happy or equally foreseeing when he conferred 
high rank on the English seaman John Young; for in 
him he also had a servant of great capacity and of the 
highest importance to the welfare of the nation. 

It has been mentioned in a previous chapter that 
when Cook arrived at the islands, Kalaniopuu was King 
of Hawaii. He appears to have been not one of the 
' Tois faineants,'' but to have possessed the actual as 
well as the nominal power of the monarch. His reign 
extended through thirty years, and, as stated above, he 
conquered the neighbouring isle of Maui and added it 
to his kingdom. It was also mentioned that during 
Cook's stay in Kealakeakua Bay, in January 1779, 
Kalaniopuu, who had just returned victorious from 
Maui, paid him a visit in great state, and that he 
was accompanied in his canoes by the young chief 
N Kamehameha. This man, whose name is so closely 
associated with the Sandwich Islands, and whose life 
and exploits form so material a part of their history, 
was born about the year 1754, probably at Kalaua, a 
large district on the north-east coast of Hawaii, which 
district he inherited as his patrimony. At the time of 
his introduction to Captain Cook, he would be about 
twenty-five years old. He possessed a vigorous consti- 
tution, and was unequalled in his acquaintance with all 
the warlike games and athletic exercises of his country. 
His mental conformation was in keeping with his 



KAMEEAMEHAS YOUTH. 143 

physique. At an early age he was distinguished by his 
enterprise, energy, and decision of . character, and by 
that quality so essential to success, an unwearying per- 
severance in the accomplishment of his objects. He 
had associated to himself a number of young chiefs, his 
own contemporaries, whose attachment and coopera- 
tion he secured, and into whom he instilled his own 
daring spirit and resolution. Such was the ore on 
which time and opportunity were to work. When he 
first immerges on our sight, in Captain King's narra- 
tive, his appearance is not prepossessing. He is de- 
scribed as having the most savage face ever beheld; its 
natural ugliness heightened by a dirty brown paste or 
powder plastered over his hair. The diamond was 
in the rough; yet, stirred by a restless energy, and 
beckoned onward by an irresistible ambition, we shall 
see him step forth from among his companions, the 
foremost man — the Bonaparte of the Pacific. 

Kamehameha had the unusual advantao'e of havino- 
two fathers. He was at once reputed to be the son of 
Keona, brother of the King Kalaniopuu (Cook's Te- 
reobu), and he was equally claimed as the offspring of 
Kahekili, King of Maui. As he received inheritances 
from both claimants to his paternity, he could scarcely 
object to an arrangement which in many cases might 
be felt embarrassing. This patrimony he cultivated 
and improved whilst he was young and before en- 
tering upon public life, with the same industry and 
intelligence which characterized him at all times. He 
laboured with his own hands in one of his fields, which 
in consequence received his name; and his compa- 
nions, following his example, selected other spots for 
their personal industry, and to which their names 
became attached. As Mr. Ellis walked throuo-h the 



144 HAWA.IIAN ISLANDS. 

scene of Kamehameha's youth, a chief who accompanied 
him pointed out with pride many memorials of his 
late sovereign's energetic youth. ' These groves of noni 
trees,' he said, ' were planted by Kamehameha before 
his beard was grown.' He showed a perpendicular 
pile of rocks on the shore, one hundred feet in height, 
through which the young chief and his companions 
had dug and formed a good road to the sea, with a 
regular descent, in order that their fishing-canoes 
might be drawn up and down; and in another place he 
had dug through several strata of rock and lava in 
the endeavour to procure water, but was unsuccessful, 
—the material offering at last too great a resistance 
by its hardness to the imperfect tools which were 
employed. 

In 1782 an event occurred which changed the cur- 
rent of Kamehameha's life. Kalaniopuu, King of 
Hawaii, died, leaving his dominions jointly to his son 
Kiwalao and his reputed nephew Kamehameha, who, 
however, was to be subordinate to Kiwalao. The island 
was divided between the two heirs, the son receiving 
the fertile districts on the south and east of Hawaii, 
whilst the nephew's portion embraced the mountainous 
and wilder regions along the western and northern 
coasts. Heron-legged Ate was not long in seeing in 
this arrangement an opportunity for discord, and she 
threw in her lighted brand of strife, by which the whole 
island quickly became enkindled. 

The name of Kamehameha given to or assumed by 
the young chief has the meaning of 'the solitary' or 
' the lonely one.' It is a name very well appropriated 
by ambition, which, in the midst of men, dwells apart on 
the high mountain of its own dreamy egotism, ready to 
use or to sacrifice its willing and devoted adherents— 



THE FIRST CONFLICT. I45 

never admitting them to the inmost enclosure of its own 
purposes and hopes and weaknesses.* 

It cannot be told now whether Kamehameha had 
hitherto conceived such ambitious views, leading to 
kmglj power, as afterwards brought into action all his 
bodily and mental powers, and made him glance beyond 
the limits of the small archipelago, soon to be all his 
own, for fresh conquests ; or whether the particular posi-^ 
tion m which he found himself lighted the lamp within 
his breast, which had previously been kept filled and 
trimmed, and ready for the taper that should make it 
burn;--and whether, like young Saul, a new heart was 
given him as soon as he saw power within his grasp He 
was, however, quickly called upon to act. The calmness 
of the sea which washed the shores of Kona, one of 
Kamehameha's newly-acquired districts, excited the cu- 
pidity of the chiefs of the neighbouring country of Hilo 
which was the possession of Kiwalao, and they desired 
to obtain It for a fishing-ground. Having gained over 
Kiwalao to their views, the Hilo chiefs embarked in 
a war-canoe, carrying with them the remains of the 
late king, and sailed for Kailua, the chief town of 
Kona, under pretence of performing there the solemn 
rites of sepulture. A sudden storm, however, obliged 
the invaders to land at Honaunau where the House of 
Keawe was situated, the mausoleum of the Hawaiian 
kings, and there they deposited Kalaniopuu's corpse. 

* ' Wakeful he sits, and lonely and unmoved, 

Beyond the arrows, views, or shouts of men ; 
As oftentimes an eagle, ere the sun 
Throws o'er the varying earth his early ray, 
Stands solitary, stands immovable, 
Upon some highest cliff, and rolls his eye, 
Clear, constant, unobservant, unabased, 
In the cold light above the dews of morn ' 

Walter Savage Landob, ' Count Jzdian' 
L 



146 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

One of the chiefs, Keeaumoku, father of Kaahumanu, 
secretly detaching himself from the rest, hastened to 
Kamehameha, and acquainted him with these pro- 
ceedings; and in his absence the invading party 
concerted measures for seizing on the whole of Hawaii. 
Consistent with his character, at once bold and cau- 
tious, Kamehameha immediately approached his ene- 
mies' camp, had an interview with Kiwalao, and the 
two leaders were in appearance reconciled. Kiwalao, 
to satisfy his disappointed chiefs, divided his own terri- 
tories among them ; but Keona, the reputed father of 
Kamehameha, dissatisfied with his share, marched off 
in a rage, with his followers, determined on war and 
plunder. Unrestrained by the ties of blood, he entered 
his son's possessions with force and arms, cut down trees, 
and engaging in a skirmish fatal to several, 'cries havoc, 
and lets slip the dogs of war.' Hostilities thus com- 
menced, quickly enlarged. The furious chief was 
joined by the king who did him wrong, Kiwalao; and 
with all their united forces they threw themselves upon 
their perfectly innocent rival Kamehameha. There was 
a fierce battle, in which Keeaumoku, the discoverer of the 
plot, was sadly wounded, and was called derisively the 
« yellow-back crab.' Not content with dagger-wounds, 
and that unkindest cut of all, the epithet, his enemies 
poured upon him to rob him of a very valuable whale's 
tooth, which the chief wore round his neck. The move- 
ment' attracted Kamehameha's attention, who, seeing 
his friend's danger, rushed to his rescue, charging the 
enemy furiously. The weak, but not ill-meaning, king, 
Kiwalao, got knocked down with a stone in the melee, 
— an opportunity which the 'yellow-back crab ' saw and 
did not neglect, but jumping up, all smarting with his 
wounds, put a quietus to the fallen king with a sword. 



KAMEHAMEHA INVADES MAUI. 147 

The immediate effect of this coup-de-grace adminis- 
tered by his adherent was to terminate the biarchy, and 
to leave Kamehameha sole ruler of Hawaii. A rout of 
Kiwalao's party took place, some of them seeking shel- 
ter in the place of refuge at Honaunau, others flying 
to the mountains and the sea. The kingdom was des- 
tined to be no quiet possession. The unnatural Keona 
and another chief seized on the fertile possessions of 
the late king lying on the westward side of the island, 
practically leaving Kamehameha little more territory 
than he had before. Divisions and desertions, how- 
ever, soon followed among the hostile party. The King 
recommenced the war, and an obstinately-contested en- 
gagement took place, terminating in a drawn game, in 
which victory declared for neither side. Kamehameha 
immediately marched upon Hilo, one of the provinces 
wrested from him, and in a skirmish received so dan- 
gerous a blow on the head as nearly to have finished 
his career. 

It is very advisable in those not actually engaged in a 
war to remain strictly neutral. It is dangerous to declare 
for either party whilst results are at all doubtful. This 
truth was practically discovered by Kahikili, who had 
obtained the sovereignty of the four large islands lying 
between Hawaii and Kauai, the latter of which, the ex- 
treme north-westerly member of the group, being also in 
the possession of his ally Kaeo. Kahikili sent assistance 
to the opponents of Kamehameha, who in return invaded 
Maui, the island nearest to Hawaii in its ruler's ab- 
sence, and defeated his son in a very bloody battle. So 
great was the carnage, that the little river lao was 
dammed by the dead bodies of the foe ; many of the 
warriors being hurled down the precipice from the 
narrow defile where the fight took place, and from 

L 2 



Its HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

which there was little opportunity of escape. It was in 
this severe conflict that Kamehameha's extraordinary 
powers fully discovered themselves. His immense 
strength was already known, and his personal courage 
was an established fact ; but now were seen other qua- 
lities necessary to a general and a ruler of men. He 
possessed an observing eye, and a cool sagacity that 
enabled him, as he watched the contest from a com- 
manding point, to issue clear and judicious orders ; but 
when the enemy's shock was greatest, when his own 
battle reeled or wavered, then he hurled himself into 
the midst, like a descending Mars ; and his animating 
presence and the resounding tones of his deep voice, 
p-ave new life to his men and turned back the forefront 

of the enemy. 

The battle of Kepaniwai, Hhe stopping of the waters,' 
has been celebrated in many meles or historic songs. 
These unwritten compositions are marked by simplicity 
and feeling, and have about them the minor and melan- 
choly cadence of the Ossianic poems. 

In the meanwhile Kamehameha's chief opponent on 
Hawaii, Keona,* had again invaded the provinces of 

* Jarves speaks of Keona as the brotlier of Kalaiiiopuu, the pre- 
vious King of Hawaii, whilst Ellis mentions him as his son, and cousin, 
therefore, to Kamehameha. He may indeed be a different person, 
though having the same name as the reputed father of Kamehameha; and 
it was customary for persons at pleasure to change names with one 
another, or to assume new ones. The difficulty of identifying persons 
is increased to us by a certain degree of similarity in the construction 
of the names, and from the circumstance of the same name being spelt 
in at least three different ways by different writers. To this must be 
added a general indistinctness of parentage, before alluded to, and which 
would hardly allow the Hawaiians to be addressed in the spirited 
language of a patriotic Dixie song — 

' Ye are sons of your sires, — 
(In all probability ')— &c. 



KAIANA. 



149 



the former ; but was opposed by Kaiana, a distinguished 
warrior of Kauai, the same who has been mentioned as 
having made a voyage to Canton in an English vessel. 
On his return, in the 'Iphigenia,' Kaiana found evil 
influences at work against him in his own island ; and, 
being invited by Kamehameha, he settled in Hawaii, 
and for his services received large possessions there and 
high rank. He was a splendid specimen of his race ; six 
feet five inches in height; very handsome in face and 
figure ; active in mind and warlike in disposition. He 
had improved the opportunity for observation which the 
voyage to China gave him, and he returned to his 
country laden, not only with mental acquirements, but 
with material stores of arms, ammunition, and other 
European and Asiatic articles — possessions which gave 
him great advantages at home. From this time fire- 
arms became by degrees introduced into the wars of the 
islands, and whilst they sharpened the conflict, they 
shortened the fight. Traders, who now began to visit 
Hawaii, found guns and ammunition ready subjects for 
barter; they also commenced implanting among the 
chiefs the taste for ardent spirits, — a taste so new to 
them that spirituous liquors were at first offensive to 
them. Would that they had ever remained so, and that 
the original aversion had never been overcome ! 

The war proceeding in Hawaii was not without its 
omens. Natural phenomena not only disheartened the 
army of Keona, but, like a destroying angel, suddenly 
transfixed a number of the combatants in death. There 
is situated on the island a volcanic mountain of great 
size, Mauna Kea, which has been already described. 
Keona's troops, accompanied by their wives and children 
were descending the mountain by three nearly parallel 
paths, separated from each other by some little distance. 



150 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

As they marched, a sudden and very violent earthquake 
and eruption of the mountain took place, attended with 
noises exceeding thunder in loudness ; the earth shook 
and rocked beneath their reeling feet, and a shower of 
ashes was thrown high into the air, filling a circuit of 
many miles. The foremost of the three divisions ap- 
pears to have been nearest to the centre of energy ; a few 
of their number were scorched to death, but the great 
majority escaped. The division in the rear were subjected 
to the sarae phenomena, which were quickly over, and 
the people hastened forward, to come up with their com- 
panions who were in advance. As they approached 
the central division they discovered that the people had 
halted,— some of them apparently calmly sleeping on 
the ground, whilst others were sitting upright with their 
wives and children embraced in their arms, or pressing 
their faces together in their usual manner of salutation. 
They spoke to them, but there was no reply; they 
touched them, but there was no motion ; they examined 
their comrades more closely, and discovered that they 
were in the camp of Death. Every human being of 
those four hundred was stiff and lifeless, killed by the 
mephitic vapours that had issued from the mountain. 
One living thing alone was left among them. A hog 
was turning up the earth in search of roots, indifferent 
to that terrible scene of death in life. 



151 



CHAPTEE X. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH — KAMEHAMEHA THE CONQUEROR- - 
INEPTNESS FOR THE LYRE. 

THE force under Keona, dispirited and reduced in 
number, were soon afterwards met by Kaiana and 
by Kamehameba, wbo had now (1791) returned to 
Hawaii, and were routed with but feeble resistance. 
Keona fled to Hilo and led a vagrant life there for two 
years. In 1793 he determined to throw himself on the 
conqueror's clemency. Having obtained permission of 
Kaiana to pass to the shore, he proceeded to the coast 
with a few friends, that he might sail round to a bay on 
the north-west of the island, where Kamehameha was at 
that time. Kaiana lent them canoes for the purpose, 
and they went on, fanned by alternate hopes and fears, 
stopping at various villages along the coast ; and at each 
place where Keona touched, the people brought presents 
of food and other things, and by every means demon- 
strated their affection for the chief. Some wept when 
they saw him, for joy at his visit ; others wept in sad- 
ness at his departure, with foreboding fears for what his 
fate might be. He was casting a hazardous die in sur- 
rendering himself to his enemy. Generosity is a fre- 
quent halo of the most savage warfare ; but here too 
much of the conqueror's future success and peace de- 
pended on his rival's existence or death. Nevertheless, 
whilst Keona remained at Paraoa, the last village at 



152 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

whicli he landed, he received comforting assurances of 
Kameharneha's good-will towards him. On the third 
morning he took leave of his friends there, and directed 
his canoe towards Kawaihae. 

Kamehameha was encamped in that bay ; and, on the 
arrival of Keona and his doomed companions, was 
standing with his chiefs on the beach, — Ellis adds, with 
the intention of protecting him. Jarves says that the 
King had determined to rid himself of a valiant com- 
petitor, and one who had been so prolific a source of 
trouble to him. The evidence is conflicting ; but the 
fact is of importance in the estimate we make of the 
man's character. Possibly he hesitated. His warriors 
knew enough of his feelings towards his rival generally; 
and when a monarch finds the life of a Beckett incon- 
venient, there will not be wanting Tracys to turn his 
indecision into resolve and his desire into action. 

Whatever the King and other chiefs might determine, 
there was one who had no doubts as to the expediency 
of Keona's death. This was our former acquaintance, 
Keeaumoku, — ' the yellow-back crab.' He was the 
Joab of the piece ; having Joab's devotion to his master, 
and all his disregard of blood. This chief, fearing, says 
Ellis, that Kamehameha might frustrate his purpose if 
Keona's canoe were allowed to land, waded, above his 
middle, into the sea, and, regardless of the King's orders 
and the expostulation of the chiefs, seized the canoe 
with one hand and with the other stabbed Keona to the 
heart as he sat in the stern. Having dipped his hand 
in blood, he proceeded to murder seven of the chief's 
companions and friends who were in the same canoe. 
In another boat were a younger brother of Keona, and 
some others, whose lives were saved by Kamehameha's 
interference. -Jarves says that orders had been issued 



KAMEHAMEHA THE KING. 153 

to Keeaumoku to entice the chief on shore and assas- 
sinate him. Ellis reports, what we would more willingly 
believe, that Kamehameha and many of his chiefs re- 
gretted his death ; and that the murderer justified his 
act on the ground that there could have been no peace 
or security if Keona had been allowed to live. He 
acted on Bentham's doctrine of the greatest happiness 
to the greatest number. 

And now Kamehameha was sovereign of all Hawaii, 
which in area is equal to two- thirds of the whole group. 
The island of Maui, with the small adjacent ones of 
Lanai and Molokai, which he had lately subdued, taking 
advantage of his absence, threw off their newly-acquired 
yoke, and returned to allegiance to Kahikili their former 
king. 

The visits of Vancouver, which took place in 1792, 
1793, 1794, and 1794, have been already noticed. He 
observed with regret the depopulation which had been 
caused in the islands by war since his first coming there 
with Cook, in 1778. He was also struck with the 
powerful character and the abilities of Kamehameha. 
His countenance, which Captain King described, had 
changed with years, and its look of stern ferocity had 
softened into an expression of firmness mixed with dig- 
nity. Time, which makes black tresses grey, had done 
something; responsibility, difficulties encountered and 
to be encountered, and the stimulus of ambition, 
had effected more. His carriage was majestic, and all 
his motions were indicative of an uncommon mind. 
His eyes were dark and penetrating, seeming to read 
the thoughts of those about him, and the most cou- 
rageous quailed before his angry glance. In figure he 
was Herculean; his general disposition and bearing were 
frank, generous, and cheerful. His sagacity was always 



154 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

on the look-out for opportunities of improvement and 
of aggrandizement. He gained much in his intercourse 
with the benevolent Vancouver, who, though he could 
not force his actions, yet influenced him by wise coun- 
sels which were remembered long after they were given. 
He had a decked vessel built for the King, which was 
named the * Britannia;' and he assisted him in forming 
and drilling a regular body-guard, armed with muskets 
and divided into day and night watches. Here was the 
commencement of the small standing army still main- 
tained in the islands. Polygamy was customary among the 
people, and especially among the chiefs. Kamehameha's 
favourite wife was a beautiful young girl named Kaahu- 
manu, who herself became remarkable afterwards for 
her character and influence. Among Vancouver's kind 
ofl&ces, was the reconciliation he brought about between 
her— she was then but eighteen — and the King, who 
had separated from her owing to her alleged intimacy 
with the chief Kaiana ; and he had the pleasure of re- 
uniting their hands on the deck of the ' Discovery,' she 
making the naive request that Vancouver would beg 
Kamehameha not to beat her any longer. Vancouver 
used all his efforts to put an end to the civil wars; but 
in this he did not succeed. When, in March 1794, he 
took is final leave of the islands, he left behind him a 
name and a memory long lovingly cherished by the 
people he had so earnestly striven to aid; a memory 
unsullied by acts of wrong and violence, and a name 
which they will not willingly let die, and of which our 
own nation may be proud. 

Intercourse with white men, and especially his con- 
ferences with the estimable Vancouver, afforded Kame- 
hameha glimpses of a new and wonderful world beyond 
the limiting horizon of his own ocean. What he saw 



LONGINGS FOR LIGHT. 15i5 

were only mdications of, or scintillae from, the great 
distant light; bnt he learned from them something of 
the grandeur of nations that had enjoyed civilization 
through the dreary ages in which his own people had 
existed in darkness. These strangers were strong; they 
were enlightened, and they were Christians. Could he 
not introduce among his own people something of civi- 
lization and of Christianity, that they too might grow 
strong, or at any rate stronger, with the strength which 
was in the Europeans. Imbued with this idea, ' Kame- 
hameha and his chiefs, after the cession of Hawaii to 
the British sovereign through Vancouver, on the 25th of 
Februar}-, 1794, expressed a strong desire to the latter 
to have religious instructors sent from England.' And 
so definite was their wish that they should be British 
teachers, that 'when the first American missionaries 
arrived, there was much opposition to their landing, on 
the ground that they were not the religious instructors 
whom the King and chiefs expected from England.'* 
Kamehameha never became a Christian : and it is pos- 
sible that his invitation to clergymen from this country, 
proceeded from a belief that through their means the 
islands might be advanced in material prosperity and 
political importance. 

In the history of most nations there rises up a man 
who, if unable to play the lyre when it is handed to him, 
has the power of changing a small town into a great 
city; one who by his genius and force of character con- 
structs his country into what it afterwards continues to 
be, or causes it to spring forward in his own lifetime 
with an advance equal to several generations. Such a man 
was Kamehameha. He is well entitled to his surname 

* Mr. Wyllie's Despatch to me, 14th December, 1859. 



15^ HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

of ' the great,' both on account of what he was and what 
he did. If it be objected that his greatness was upon a 
very small scale, it is enough to answer, that there may 
be a great ruler of a small nation, as there may be a 
very small ruler of a great people. It may be said that 
he was cruel, disregardful of human life. He was more 
humane than his predecessors; and, being engaged in 
wars, regarded life perhaps with no greater indifference 
than that with which it is treated during war by the 
enlightened commanders of Christian countries, who 
work the problem on the chess-board of the field of 
battle, and often throw away their pawns with little 
compunction. He practised polygamy: that was in ac- 
cordance with the custom of his country. Christianity 
has sanctioned and enforced monogamy, and society has 
been the gainer by it; but moral science had not en- 
liofhtened the Hawaiians on the relations of the sexes, 
or given them statistics by which they might see, from 
their nearly equal numbers, that the appointed combi- 
nation of men and women is a binary one. 

We resume the story of'Kamehameha's life. He now 
found himself surrounded with difficulties. The three 
islands he had lately conquered had revolted from his 
authority ; and the powerful chief Kaiana who had been 
so great a support to him, led away afterwards by am- 
bitious projects of his own, had become his opponent, 
and a deep dissatisfaction had for some time existed 
between them. It was on account of a supposed in- 
timacy with Kaiana that the quarrel with his favourite 
wife Kaahumanu, and their consequent separation, had 
taken place. His attached but unscrupulous adherent 
Kameeimoku, whose seizure of the ' Fair American' and 
murder of young Metcalf have been previously related, 
also occasioned him trouble. The people of Maui even 



WARS AND CONQUESTS. I57 

made a descent upon the coast of Hawaii, but were re- 
pulsed. After Vancouver's departure, war broke out. 
Keao (King of Kauai) uniting forces with Kahikili, King 
of Maui, sailed in a large fleet of canoes for Hawaii. 
They were met by the naval force of Kamehameha, at 
the head of which was the schooner ^Britannia' bearing 
the King's flag and armed with three brass guns. In the 
action which took place, his enemies were conquered and 
dispersed; the acred Kahikili died soon afterwards; and 
later, Keao, who attempted to seize his ally's dominion 
in wrong of his nephew and successor Kalanikupule, 
was killed in battle. 

Kamehameha's three brass guns must be looked upon 
as an indication of advancing civilization. It is true 
that before proof we should not have selected such an 
index ; but we find that among what is called, rather 
sarcastically, the European family of nations, the carry- 
ing and destructive powers of projectiles, and the resist- 
ing powers of steel plates, are adopted as the ultimate 
test of the progress of the arts; and that in the peaceful 
convocation of nationalities held in London in the 
Exhibition of 1862, Minies, Armstrongs, Whitworths, 
and Lancasters had the place of honour beside models 
of 'G-loires' and ^Warriors,' to the exclusion, possibly, of 
other things which might be taken as clearer symptoms 
of universal concord. 

In 1795 Kamehameha invaded and reconquered the 
islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai, and he prepared 
for the subjugation of Oahu, to which Kalanikupule, 
the heir of Kahikili, had retired. Throwing himself on 
the island with part of his troops (his entire army now 
consisted of sixteen thousand warriors), he left the main 
body to follow him, under command of the estranged 
and now treacherous Kaiana. The latter looked on the 



158 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

King as a rival, and was struck with the opportunity pre- 
sented to him of crushing him at once. Instead, there- 
fore, of hastening to his master as he had been instructed, 
he deserted, with the whole of the troops under his com- 
mand, to the enemy. Perhaps he had not calculated on 
the energy and elasticity of Kamehameha's nature, who, 
as soon as he heard of this great defection, marched 
to the Valley of Nuuanu, which has been already de- 
scribed as running up from the city of Honolulu, and 
terminating in a remarkable precipice or pali. Here 
he found his enemies encamped in what they supposed 
to be an inpregnable position, being on a steep hill- 
side, and protected in front by a stone wall. Young, 
who accompanied the King, made such practice with a 
field-piece, that the wall became, instead of a defence, 
an instrument of destruction to the Oahuan army; 
the stones multiplying the effect of each shot fired. The 
renegade Kaiana fell, and the ranks of troops were soon 
so disordered that they broke and fled. 

Then occurred that terrible slaughter which has been 
mentioned in the description of this locality. The 
routed troops were driven up the narrow valley to ^ the 
brink of the precipice, and four hundred of them, it is 
said, fell headlong from it and were dashed to pieces on 
the rocks below. Those who have seen the remarkable 
fortifications at Namur, will remember that Vauban has 
made use of a similar position in the defences ; between 
the parallel walls there are turfed spaces terminating 
suddenly in faults or breaks of some thirty feet depth, 
towards which it would be the object of the garrison to 
drive an attacking force that had gained entrance. 

Kalanikupule was amongst the slain. Those who 
escaped fled to Kauai; and Kamehameha, by his decisive 
victory, was left sovereign of the island. His immediate 



THE BATTLE AT THE PRECIPICE. 



159 



intention was to have reduced the two remaining islands 
of Kauai and Niihau; but his fleet, was driven back by 
violent adverse winds, and the project was deferred to 
another season. 

The islands were suffering greatly from war whilst 
our new Augustus was wading through blood to a throne 
of peace. Kamehameha is computed to have lost six 
thousand of his troops, and the losses of his opponents 
had been far greater. Scarcity prevailed ; the hateful 
brood of war— pestilence, famine, and cruel oppres- 
sion,- followed behind her chariot ; and the depopu- 
lation of the islands went on at a rapid rate. Among 
other troubles, a rebellion broke out in Hawaii, headed 
by Namakeha, brother to the late chief Kaiana. Some 
collisions, also, took place between the natives and 
the crew and officers of H.B.M. sloop ^ Providence,' 
under the command of Captain Broughton. In retalia- 
tion for an attack made on a landing-party at the island 
of mihau, the English burnt several houses and destroyed 
sixteen canoes. This island, however, had not at that 
time submitted to Kamehameha. 

His restless desires of conquest were now extendino- 
beyond his own Httle archipelago; and as soon as he 
had subjugated Kauai, his intention was to have sailed 
for Tahiti. This idea was frustrated by the insurrection 
m Hawaii, which required his presence. He accord- 
ingly proceeded there at once, slew JSTamakeha, and put 
an end to the rebellion. 

If Kamehameha had had no other qualities than those 
of a self-taught general to whom war was an exciting 
game, as cricket is to our own youth, his title to our 
consideration would not have been great. His nature 
rose above the mere man-slayer's, civilized or savage 
and showed itself in administrative talent and in the 



jf^O HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

manner in wMcli lie established Ms power after asserting 
it. He had shed blood freely ; yet to the conquered he 
showed more leniency than might have been expected— 
more, probably, than natives were accustomed to receive 
from conquerors. He was not neglectful of extendmg 
his influence by donations, through which powerful chiefs 
became bound to his interest, or by marriage alliances, 
as a means of settlement and consolidation of the king- 
dom. In the latter respect, polygamy is singularly con- 
venient; and a king whose marriage partnership are 
not limited, may, by judicious courtships, add many 
appanages to his crown. Kamehameha had taken 
prisoner, when he conquered Maui, Keopuolani, grand- 
daughter of Kalaniopuu, a lineal descendant of the 
ancient kings of Maui and Hawaii ; from being his cap- 
tive, he now made her his wife, an arrangement attended 
with most satisfactory results. Kalaimoku, who had 
fought against him, and also become his prisoner, had 
■ his life spared; and such clemency was shown to him as 
converted him into an attached friend and counsellor. 
The descendants of the late king Kahikili were liberally 
provided for. Other chiefs and the people received his 
beneficence, and experienced such humanity that their 
transfer to a new master was found by them a change 
not to be regretted. To many generous impulses 
Kamehameha added the kingly faculty of apprehending 
character, and of enkindling those about him with his 
own natural resolution and energy. With regard to 
Kauai, the most westerly of the larger islands, he con- 
tented himself, for the present, with the nominal sub- 
mission of its king ; and thus, finding himself ruler of 
the entire group, he entered, at about the age of five- 
and-forty, upon a more peaceful phase of life, dwelling 
for some years in Hawaii, and afterwards living much 



THE DAWN OF PEACE. 16 i 

at Lahaina, a beautifully-situated town in the island of 
Maui, and now second in importance only to Honolulu. 
His time, though spent in peace, was not passed in 
idleness. He was diligently occupied in establishing his 
power on a permanent basis. The feudal tenure of 
lands had been previously an acknowledged principle 
throughout the islands ; but Kamehameha, by virtue of 
his recent conquests, was able to reduce the theory to 
very practical conclusions; and he claimed the entire 
and absolute ownership of the land, which he divided 
among his followers on the tenure of their paying him 
a portion of its revenue and rendering him military ser- 
vice. We have hitherto considered the feudal svstem of 
the Normans to be a very distinctive one ; yet*^ here we 
see, almost at our antipodes, its perfect parallel. It 
illustrates the fact that corresponding ideas are some- 
times independently born in different nations, as in 
different minds, among which there has been no inter- 
course and can have been no collusion ; and ethnologists 
should learn a lesson of caution from it, not to declare, 
from identity of institutions, the identity or even the' 
cognation of races. 

Kamehameha added to the principle of his being him- 
self the source of all property and office, the rule of heredi- 
tary succession : but he did not make this rule invariable, 
as he retained to himself the power of confirming or 
dispensing with inheritances. He appointed on each 
island a governor, to whom it appertained to nominate 
chiefs of districts, heads of villages, tax-collectors, and 
all petty officers. The tax-gatherers, not being able 
to write, kept their accounts by a method not unlike 
the ancient tallies in the English Exchequer. Upon a 
cord several hundred fathoms long, the several districts 
were indicated by knots, loops, and tufts of various size, 

M 



1 2 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

shape, and colour ; and by other ingenious devices the 
taxable articles and rate of impost were marked upon 

it. 

Kamehameha instituted a council of chiefs, with whom^ 

he advised on all important measures. At the head of 
this was Keeaumoku, his father-in-law, a chief mighty 
in strength, and warmly attached to his master, but un- 
scrupulous in shedding blood when expediency required 
it, as has been seen in his assassination of Keona. He 
had, in addition to his council, a number of ' wise men ' 
(a sort of Saxon Wittenagemote), who assisted him in or- _ 
ganizing laws and regulating the minor affairs of his 
kingdom. He enacted laws against murder, theft, and 
oppression; peace was everywhere firmly established; 
and, compared with former times, his people had 
entered upon a golden age, sitting every one under his 
vine and under his fig-tree, with a general security for 
old and young, for the innocent and the helpless. It is 
this part of Kamehameha's reign which entitles him to 
the name which has been, perhaps fancifally, given him, 
of the Hawaiian Alfred. 



163 



CHAPTER XI. 

HISTORICAL SKEIOH-KAMfeASlfeA THE KIN6-HIS DEATH 
— ' I COME TO BUET CJ3SAE, AA^D TO PKAISE HIM.' 

-jZAMEHAMEHA showed his pob-tical sagacity in his 
J-1- relations with the chiefs. To those whom he 
could trust, important posts were given. Young was 
made Goyernor of Hawaii, and held that position for 
many years. Those chiefs who were dangerous from 
their own ambition, or likely from weakness to be in- 
volved in the intrigues of others, he retained about his 
person, taking them in his train wherever he went 
keeping them away from their own domains and under 
constant observation. Thus Davis remained always 
near the King, but enjoyed large possessions and was 
freed from taxation. The two Englishmen assimilated 
themselves o the native manners, and won popularity 
by their usefulness and humanity. 

The warrior monarch, now in peace, was not one whit 
less a king. Henry the Eighth and ' King ' Elizabeth could 
not have entertained higher views of royal dignity and 
prerogative than did Kamehameha. He assumed great 
state, and the people had less access to his person. All 
the ancient king-customs were rigidly enforced and 
were added to. Wherever he went, all people uncovered 
their heads and shoulders; and they were obliged to do 
this when they approached any residence where the 



31 2 



Ig4 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

King was, and even upon hearing his attendants' cry as 
they carried his food to or from him. A greater nuda- 
tion was required whenever his servants touched any 
article;* and no one might cross the shadow of the 
King or of his house. His drinking-water was brought 
from certain springs many miles distant ; and his chiefs 
were obliged to observe ceremonies, obsequious m a 
greater or less degree according to their rank. Never- 
theless, he was too wise to let material advantages suffer 
by his seclusion or routme; and to promote agriculture 
and the iisheries, he set the example of diligence by 
occasionally working at each pursuit with his own hands. 
With foreigners also, he kept some barbaric state ; but 
in his desire to examine the finer specimens of ship- 
building, and the manufactures and arts of other coun- 
tries, he would often put aside all forms in visitmg 
vessels which came, and, after one ceremonious visit, 
would row himself off to them in a canoe, and go on 
board without any restraints of etiquette. He made 
great use of his remarkable powers of observation, and 
soon began to found some of his own institutions upon 
foreign models, according to the insight he could obtain 
of them. He collected a small fleet of foreign-built 
vessels ; erected forts; mounted batteries of heavy guns; 
drilled his soldiers, and gave them a uniform. He en- 
gaged in his service a number of European and American 
artisans and seamen ; and he had the wisdom, m his 
treatment of these his foreign subjects, to liberate them 
from the troublesome etiquette which the highest of the 

* An etiquette tedious and inconyenient, if constantly observed. It 
recalls the story, lately current, of a reigning aerman V^^l^.^T^L 
rouslv insisting that no person of his household shoud approach him 
except in white gloves and a white cravat, was startled by the literal 
obedience of one'of his attendants, the gentleman entering the Dukes 
presence dressed in white gloves and white cravat onli/. 



kamehameha's domestic life. 16r, 

natives were obliged to pay, whilst he kept them sub- 
missive to order and his own authority. It is not to be 
wondered at that the port of Honolulu became very 
well known, and much resorted to by ships ; and in all 
parts of his dominion foreign vessels and their crews 
were welcomed and well treated ; whilst ships of war 
and those commissioned for scientific purposes received 
his marked attention and hospitality. 

His domestic life must be judged of with reference to 
the customs of his country and race. Kamehameha 
had two publicly-acknowledged wives or queens. To 
Kaahumanu he was warmly attached. By her he had 
a daughter, born in 1809. His other queen, Keopuolani, 
grand-daughter of Kalaniopuu, former King of Hawaii, 
was of much higher rank. She took precedence, and 
her issue became successors to the throne: but this was 
a marriage of state expediency; and as his attentions to 
her were enforced, and he was to her at least a very 
intermittent husband, she was allowed the same privi- 
lege as himself, and had another husband, Hoapili, with 
the King's full consent. Besides these two wives, Kame- 
hameha had Kekauluohi, daughter of Kaiana, his late 
premier. She had been educated for him from a child, 
a royal virgin brought up in the strictest seclusion and 
with the utmost care. Their marriage appears to have 
been ^ hardly more than a nominal one, and after the 
King's death she became the wife of his son. Besides 
these he may have had other heterogamous connections, 
— not essential to this history. 

The royal family by Keopuolani consisted of Liholiho, 
born in 1797, and invested in 1809 with regal honours! 
in order to establish the succession to him. This was the 
king who died in London; Kauikeaouli, born in 1814, 
and who succeeded his elder brother, under the name of 



166 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Kamehameha III., and died in 1854; and a daughter, 
Nahienaena, born in 1816, dead many years since. 

When Kamehameha finally doffed his war-cloak, his 
designs for subjugating Tahiti were also abandoned. It 
was probably the surplus energy of manhood's noontide 
that made him look round for new worlds to conquer. 
Later in life, his relations with Pomare were very ami- 
cable and neighbour-like. Kind messages and friendly 
gifts frequently passed between the two sovereigns, 
separated from each other by forty degrees of latitude; 
and a project for a double marriage in the royal families 
was set on foot; but the death of the son of Kameha- 
meha, who had been selected to marry the daughter of 
Pomare, took place, and the plan collapsed. 

Once only after the reign of peace had commenced 
was it. in actual danger of being broken. In 1801 
Kamehameha, like the Israelitish king who remembered 
that Eamoth-ailead was his, but in the enemy's hands, 
considered that Kauai had yet to be conquered; and he 
proceeded to Oahu, the island nearest to Kauai, from 
which it is distant about a hundred miles, to make pre- 
parations for war. The soldier, tired of a repose which 
had certainly not been indolent, felt all his martial 
ardour return, and he spent two years in equipping a 
sufficient army and fleet. It was a modern one in con- 
struction compared with the former system, when men 
fought almost naked, without defensive armour of any 
sort, their weapons the spear and dagger. Death stalking 
the field in a most unattractive and uncompromising 
form. Now, the army consisted of seven thousand 
native warriors and a contiugent of fifty white men, 
mostly armed with muskets ; and for artillery it could 
muster forty swivel guns and six mortars, with ammuni- 
tion in abundance. The fleet, too, was equally changed. 



NATIVE CHIVALRY, 167 

The line of battle was formed of twenty-one small 
schooners, the largest about fifty tons, some of them 
carrying guns and commanded by Europeans. Sup- 
porting these was a cloud of war-canoes ; and in 1804 
there Avas added to the navy the ship 'Lady-bird,' 
mounting twenty gun§, which the King had purchased 
of the Americans. 

Kaumualii now reigned in Kauai, having succeeded 
his father Keao. His nature was noble and chivalric 
but inconsistent He had the devoted attachment of his 
own subjects, and not less that of the foreign residents 
who had entered his kingdom. He was humane, intel- 
ligent, and an encourager of commerce ; but in military 
talent he was not to be compared with his adversary, and 
in force of will was greatly his inferior. Kamehameha's 
volition was of iron,— Kaumualii's was of Venetian 
gold. 

There is something romantic in the whole of this 
transaction. In continuing the history of a little king- 
dom far away in the wastes of the Pacific, we are con- 
stantly surprised by what seem like reproductions or 
faint echoes of memorable European events. Here we 
have another Henry of England and another Francis of 
France in the earlier and more generous period of their 
lives, emulating one another in chivalrous deeds. Kau- 
mualii, supported by his devoted people, who were 
pretty well armed, and possessed European weapons and 
ammunition, prepared to resist the invader. During 
Kamehameha's protracted preparation, the King o'f 
Kauai sent him repeated messages of defiance, and 
finally threatened to descend on Oahu, and carry war 
there. Kamehameha determined on the bold step of 
going with one of his officers to Kauai to examine the 
condition of the island, and he was urgent on Captain 



168 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Tumbull, who was then at Hawaii with a merchant 
vessel which he commanded, to convey him there ; but 
his request was refused, and the visit was not made. 

When Kamehameha's army was at last ready to em- 
bark, a very fatal epidemic broke out among the troops, 
and spread over the islands, causing a great mortality. 
Three hundred corpses are said to have been carried out 
to sea from one place in a day, and the King was him- 
self attacked by the disease. He lost at that time 
several chiefs who were his most valuable advisers. 
Kaumualii, notwithstanding his defiant cartels, fluctuated 
much in his mind. Courage and terror played see-saw 
on his heart ; and, for a last resource, he prepared a 
vessel in which he and his family might fly the island 
in case of a defeat. Even this suggestion had some- 
thing romantic about it. Launching their little ship 
upon the wide untravelled waves, they were to ask the 
winds to waft them to a new home in some undiscovered 
islands, and there found a new dynasty. 

The occasion, however, for such a desperate step never 
arrived. Kauai was not invaded, and its king took 
another proceeding as desperate and as romantic. An 
American captain then at Honolulu, whose own interests 
depended upon the maintenance of peace in the islands, 
proposed to Kamehameha that the former should sail to 
Kauai and endeavour to persuade Kaumualii to return 
with him to Oahu, and there to negotiate with his ad- 
versary. . The offer was accepted ; Kaumualii, too, ac- 
ceded to the proposal; and the first officer of the 
American vessel being left in Kauai as a hostage, the 
king sailed for Oahu, to cast himself upon the good faith 
of Kamehameha, who had pledged his word for his safety, 
—and whose word was respected and believed. His 
truth and honour were established facts. The solution 
was perfect. There was a sort of Field of Cloth of Gold. 



A FIELD OF CLOTH OF GOLD. I69 

There were princely greetings and festivities, exhibitions 
of arms and demonstrations of friendship. The golden 
will gave way to the will of iron, and Kaumualii ceded 
his kingdom to his great entertainer. Kamehameha 
had the generosity not to accept this concession, or to 
take advantage of his noble rival now within his power 
and influence ; but in lieu, it was arranged that the island 
of Kauai and the small isles adjoining should be held 
in flef, having its king's particular rights respected, and 
that, in return, they should be protected by the greater 
power of Kamehameha. Thus the ^ancestral voices 
prophesying war,' were hushed, and the last fiery cloud 
passed away from Hawaii-Nei,— United Hawaii. 

Kamehameha was able after this episode to devote 
himself to the advancement of his kingdom, in carrying 
out public works, and in maintaining friendly inter- 
course with foreigners. He acquired tlie English lan- 
guage in speaking, though he never learned to write it. 
After remaining nine years in Oahu he sailed for Hawaii, 
where he passed the rest of his life, residing principally 
at Kailua, on tlie western side of the island, and at 
Kealakeakua Bay, the spot where Cook had met his 
death. He built some large heiaus, or temples, and 
constructed extensive fish-ponds, which, being mostly 
formed by sea-walls enclosing part of the coast, were 
works requiring great strength. One of these, at Kiholo, 
IS remarkable for its size. A small bay there, about 
half a mile in width, runs into the land. Kamehameha 
enclosed the bay by bmlding a wall across its mouth 
twenty feet wide and six feet high, having several arches 
filled with a grating of stakes, which admitted the water 
but prevented the escape of the fish. The space or 
pond enclosed was two miles in circumference. He 
devoted himself warmly to commerce, and in tbe latter 
part of his reign made some steps towards a direct trade 



170 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

with the Russian settlements. The great article of ex- 
port was sandal-wood, and in one year wood to the value 
of 400,000 dollars was shipped. In return for this the 
natives procured foreign objects in abundance, Kame- 
hameha fitted out a ship on his own account, loaded her 
with this valuable wood, and sent her to Canton. The 
officers on board were English, but the supercargo was 
a Hawaiian. This was the first occasion of the national 
flag being seen in China. The flag adopted has eight 
horizontal stripes, representing the eight islands of the 
kingdom, with the English union at the upper left 
corner. From heavy port charges, extravagance of the 
captain and supercargo, &c., the whole proceeds of tliis 
valuable adventure were dissipated ; and on the vessel's 
return the King found that, instead of being enriched by 
his argosy, it had brought him into debt. Practical in 
his character, he gave up kingly trading ; and seeing 
that a great deal of his money had gone in port charges, 
he took a hint from his own loss, determining to in- 
crease his revenue by a similar impost; and harbour 
fees were accordingly established at that time. 

The first horse seen on the islands was landed in 
1803 from a Boston vessel. Terror mingled with ad- 
miration was felt by the natives when they beheld the 
noble animal, so much larger than any of their few in- 
digenous quadrupeds. Other horses, soon after, reached 
them from California, and they rapidly increased in 
numbers, the people becoming daring and incessant 
riders. The King was a good horseman, and was pleased 
to exhibit his feats of equitation. 

"Whatever ideas Kamehameha had formed of Chris- 
tianity during his intercourse with the generous Van- 
couver, and whatever was his anxiety at that time and 
thereafter to procure teachers of religion from England, 



y 




V 



X 



THE KING NOT PERSUADED TO BE A CHEISTIAN. 171 

the Christian profession was, unfortunately, during the 
subsequent years of his reign, not presented to him in 
an attractive aspect. There were seamen nominally 
Christians, but their conduct was not likely to illustrate 
the purity of the Grospel ; there were some English 
convicts, who had escaped from our penal settlements 
and found their way to Oahu, the riotous and quarrel- 
some behaviour of whom would not advance in the 
King's eyes the religion which white men were supposed 
to follow ; there was even a clergyman on the islands, 
but he was a recreant one, who had forsaken his pro- 
fession, and would be little Hkely to impress others mth 
the value of holy living, which had had so little power 
over himself. Some persons, whether English or Ame- 
rican does not appear, did make an attempt to con- 
vince the King of the truth of Christianity. Their zeal 
was greater than either their reasoning or their per- 
suasive capacity, and they were holding an argument 
before a man of strong will and acute reason. They 
were unsuccessful in results ; and, at the conclusion of 
a highly-coloured appeal about the power of faith, 
Kamehamehapressed on them the crucial test of throwing 
themselves, in faith, from the top of a neighbouring 
precipice,— his belief to be dependent on their safe 
arrival at the bottom of it. 

^ So, to the end of his life, the King continued devo- 
tions to his idols. He was probably a very sceptical 
worshipper ; but he looked upon the natipnal religion 
as a great state instrument, which it was better on his 
part to support by his patronage. He built a temple 
or house for his special divinity, and at his mortal sick- 
ness his last prayers were made to his feathered god 
Kukailimoku. It has been seen that the subject of 
religion had not altogether escaped the attention of 



172 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

visitors to the islands; but most of those who came 
there were unfitted to promote its holy cause, and the 
great majority were ignorant and indifferent about it. 
Some, however, more thoughtful than the rest, were 
struck with the great advantage to be gained if the 
religion of Christ could be authoritatively taught to the 
people. Such was the view of Captain Turnbull, the 
comxmander of an English merchantman, who, on re- 
turning to this countrv in 1803, suggested the sending 
out missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, a field which 
he thought more likely to be successful than Tahiti had 
showed itself. Whatever efforts Turnbull made to 
accomplish this object, they fell to the ground, and 
England at that time did not send out the light and 
truth of which she was a favoured depository. 

In personal habits Kamehameha must be considered 
moderate. He and his subjects acquired a fondness for 
rum, which had been introduced by foreigners as an 
article of trade. The King drank it, but not intem- 
perately, and he kept the monopoly of spirits in his own 
hands, and thus was able to restrain its use among his 
people ;— an important thing to do, for peace now being 
universal, the Hawaiians might, in order to testify the 
relief they felt, have fallen to heavy drinking. 

For dress he adopted, with good sense, such articles 
of European costume as were suitable to his own climate. 
On occasions he appeared in uniform, of which he 
had several rich suits. By recommendation from this 
country the Windsor uniform was assumed. 

Towards the end of Kamehameha's reign, the op- 
pressive system of the tabu began to be infringed on 
and frequently broken. This thraldom was deeply in- 
terwoven with their religious system, although the King 
or a high chief could lay on a tabu at his own pleasure. 



THE king's death-sickness. 



173 



Liglit was breaking in upon the native mind, but at 
present only fitfully. The people showed their freedom, 
but with trembling; and were obliged to assert new 
views in secret, open violations of their superstition 
being still visited with vindictive punishments. In 
1818 the last case of capital punishment occurred for 
breaking the tabus or religious restrictions. One man 
was then killed for putting on a chief's malo, or girdle ; 
another for eating something which had been tabooed ;' 
and the third for leaving a house under tabu and entering 
one which was not so. 

The first man-of-war which entered the harbour of 
Honolulu was the Eussian ship ' Eurick,' Captain Kot- 
zebue. This was in 1816 ; and, on her saiHng, she ex- 
changed salutes with the batteries of the port,— an 
etiquette which took place for the first time. 

In the year 1819 the King was seized with the sick- 
ness which terminated his life. There is very little 
privacy in Hawaiian houses. Persons of both sexes 
remain at night, even in the sleeping-chamber of the 
possessor, talking or smoking ; and during illness, at a 
time when we consider quietude to be particularly 
necessary, the kind zeal of friends leads them to remain 
m the room, or go in and out in considerable numbers. 
It was thus with Kamehameha in his last illness. 
Priests, doctors, chiefs, with ofiicious affection, crowded 
about him, and must have made his last moments very 
unendurable. They brought him food and new idols; they 
carried the moribund King from one house to another,— 
at one time arranging so as to have his head in one house 
and his feet in a dwelling adjoining. In spite of— 
niay we not say in consequence of ?— all these attentions 
his weakness increased. At about midnight of the 7th 
of May he was seen to be sinking. A little food and a 



174 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

cup of water were pressed upon him, but he was no 
longer able to swallow. The chiefs about him then 
begged the King to give them his counsel; he was 
unable to speak. As a last resource, they carried him 
from the eating-house to his dwelling, there being 
separate houses for different uses. Then one of the chiefs 
addressing him said, ' Here we all are ; your younger 
brethren, your son Liholiho, and your foreigner (mean- 
ing John Young). Impart to us your dying charge that 
Liholiho and Kaahumanu may hear.' Kamehameha 
faintly enquired, ' What do you say ? ' Kaikoewa re- 
peated, ' Your counsels for us.' Making a last effort, 
the King began, ' Move on in my good way, and—' but 
strength failed him, and he spoke no more. Young, 
the foreigner, embraced the King and kissed his dying 
master. Grreat was the respect and affection which had 
sprung up between these two men during an intercourse 
of many years. Hoapili also embraced the King, whis- 
pering something in his ear. Twice more he was 
carried from one house to another, and at 2 a.m. of the 
8th of May he expired. 

It is very much to be regretted that Kamehameha 
was unable to express to his heir and to his devoted 
followers those counsels and last instructions which they 
entreated. The dying words of all persons are received 
reverentially and preserved with a pious care ; but the 
results of a life so remarkable as this Hawaiian chiefs, 
and the practical conclusions he had himself drawn from 
the chequered drama of which hehad beentheprotagonist, 
would have possessed a great value to his o\vn people, and 
would not have been uninteresting to studious observers 
of character in other countries. It must also be remem- 
bered that before the art of writing was acquired,^ a 
will by word of mouth was the necessary form of dis- 



DEATH OF KAM:^HAM:gHA. I75 

position of honours and property. The words of a tes- 
tator or donor, especially when formed into distiches or 
doggrel rhymes, were retained with accurate fidelity by 
the hearers, and handed down by bards or those nearly 
mterested with almost as much security as a written 
document. The last Avords of Israel, of David, and 
other persons recorded in Scripture, will be called to 
mmd ; and our o^vn Anglo-Saxon grants in lines of four 
or five syllables show the means taken for retaining 
words exactly in the memory. In the Frithiof s-Saga 
of Bishop Tegner, an admirable picture of ancient 
northern customs and manners, the death-bed scene of a 
kmg, and his charge or will to his children and people, 
with his last words of gnomic wisdom, are given in a 
very interesting manner.* 

^ The passage is too long for quotation, but a few stanzas may not be 
out of place as an iUustration of oral tradition under the circumstances 
mentioned in the text. I translate from the German version of the 
baga by Ernst Jansen :— 

" Children," quoth King BeU, "on me { Death's shadow falls: 
Hear me ! Loud for peace and union | the kingdom calls. 
Force Hves in harmony.— | The ring surrounding 
The spear, gives, what besides were weak, | its strength abounding. 

' " For watch and ward at port and frontier | set kingly power • 
But let peace within th' enclosure | put forth her flower 
The sword should wake for right, | not king's displeasure, 
And shields but padlocks be, to guard | our hoarded treasure. 

Wisdom lacks he who o'erburthens | his Father-land. 
Powerless are kings without | the people's hand. 
Droops the plant, its branches dwindle, | when the fountains 
Of life and sap are wasted on | the barren mountains. 

Pillars four with strength uphold | the welkin's vault : 
Law, one column, singly doth | kings' thrones exalt. 
Misfortune hovers near when might alone finds hearing; 
Justice is the only robe | befits kings' wearing. 



176 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

So passed away from life the first King of Hawaii- 
Nei. As soon as he had drawn his last breath, a con- 
sultation of chiefs was held in the chamber of death, 
and one of them, in the agony of his grief, proposed 
that they should eat the corpse, raw. This suggested 
method of testifying respect and affection was rejected 
by the majority, and the body was taken into another 
house for the due performance of rites by the priests 
and the new king, and for apotheosis. The flesh having 
been carefully separated from the bones, according to 
custom, the latter were tied in a bundle of tapa and 
put safely away— so safely, indeed, that, like some 
other objects of value nearer home, they have never 
since been found. At his obsequies a sacrifice was 
made of three hundred dogs— an important fact to 
notice, independent of the value of so large a number 
of useful animals, because a few years previously, on 
such an occasion, human victims would have been 
sacrificed instead of this canine holocaust. One or two 
of the King's most attached friends were only prevented 
by others from killing themselves, as the procession 
moved towards the tomb. Eeechey says, indeed, that 
some of his more ardent adherents did kill themselves, 
and that many knocked out their front teeth, and 

* " Build not on thy father's fame,— | 'twas his alone. 
If thou can' St not bend thy bow i 'tis not thine own. 
What would' st thou with glory past? 1 'Tis flown for ever. 
Its own waves only bear along [ the seaward river." 

' Thus the aged gave their counsel | in that old hall. 
Such the Scald did after utter | in Hawarnal.* 
From age to age in Norseland ] Wisdom's words descended, 
At the ^ave-place whispered still | with night-winds blended.' 



A Song of the Edda. 



PAGAN OBSEQUIES. ,jj 

Otherwise mutilated themselves on that occasion ac- 
cording to custom, and that several human victims 
were otfered to his manes by the priests in the Morals. 
As this IS not confirmed by later writers, it is to be 
hoped that Beechey's information was erroneous as to 
tlie sacrifice of human life. 

A laboured eulogium on the character of Kame-' 
hameha is uncalled for. The reader will form his own 
estimate from the facts of his life as set before him 
however slightly. That long reign, lasting a quarter of 
a century, witnessed the transition of his country from 
savagery to civilization. And as, when in the articles of 
death, the feet of the King were sheltered by the roof of 
one house and his head was covered by another, so was 
his hte Itself: its commencement was in the home of 
barbarism, and before its close the dayspring of a 
rapidly-advancing civilization was fiushino- the skies 
'His biographer,' writes Beechey, thirty years ago, 
will do him inj ustice if he does not rank him, howeve^ 
limited his sphere, and limited his means, among those 
great men who, like our Alfred, and Peter the Great of 
fiussia have rescued their countries from barbarism, 
and who are justly esteemed the benefactors of man- 
kind His loss as a governor, and as a father to his 
people, was universally felt by his subjects.' ' Judoed 
by his advantages,' says Jarves, in 1843, 'and compared 
with the more eminent of his countrymen, he may be 
justly styled not only great, but good. To this day his 
memory warms the heart and elevates the national 
feehngs of Hawaiians. They are proud of their old 
warnor-kmg; they love his name; his deeds form their 
historical age; and an enthusiasm everywhere prevails 
shared even by foreigners who knew his worth that 
constitutes the firmest pillar of the throne of his son 



i:8 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

« Since I have been King,' said Kamehameha to 
Kotzebue, ' no European has had cause to complain of 
having suffered injustice here. I have made my islands 
an asylum for all nations, and honestly supplied with 
provisions every ship that desired them.' The King 
conversed, says the same traveller, with a vivacity, sur- 
prising at his age ; asked us various questions, and made 
observations which his interpreter was not always able 
to translate ; the words which he used being peculiar to 
the language of Owhyhee, and so witty that his ministers 
often laughed aloud. 

One cannot but feel a deep regret that, to a mind 
so original and energetic as Kamehameha's, the Chris- 
tian religion had not been presented under more fa- 
vourable circumstances. The first impressions of it he 
received from Vancouver seem never to have been quite 
effaced, but his after-acquaintance with its nominal 
professors was not likely to give him either a true or an 
exalted conception of the power or the purity of the 
faith in Christ. ' The changes which had occurred at 
Tahiti,' writes Jarves, ^by the final triumph of the 
Christian religion, aroused his attention, and he made 
many enquiries in regard to the causes and results. 
He desired to be instructed in the doctrines, and to 
learn the nature of the Supreme Being the foreigners 
worshipped. It was his misfortune not to have come 
in contact with men who could have rightly influenced 
his religious aspirations. The whites around him were 
little calculated to explain the sublime truths, or to tell 
him of the heavenly tidings of the G-ospel.' 

'These are our gods, whom I worship,' said Kame- 
hameha to Kotzebue, whilst showing him one of the 
morals or temples. ' Whether I do right or wrong I 



AN EULOGY AND A EEGEET. I79 

do not know ; but I follow my faith, which cannot be 
wicked, as it commands me never to do wrong. 

In one of the most beautiful of Dean Alford's son- 
nets, the poet, walking among the fallen pillars of 
' Desert Academe,' sees approach him an Athenian— 

' A very sad old man,— his eyes were red 
With over-weeping ; ' — 

and the cause of his inconsolable grief was that 
beautiful Athens, in all her loveliness, was, in respect 
of the boon of Christianity under which it is our own 
privilege to dwell, ^only in the prime.' Her existence, 
m regard to the highest revelation, was premature. 
May we not appropriate to Kamehameha, who died one 
year before the arrival of the first missionaries from 
America, the mournful sentence of the visionary 
Athenian, who 

' cried and said, 
The light hath risen— but shineth not on me ! ' 



JJ $ 



X80 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 




CHAPTEK XII. 

HISTOKICAL SKETCH— ACCESSION OF LIHOLIHO— THE 
ABOLITION OF IDOLATKY. 

E are about to relate in this chapter one of the 
strangest events that ever happened in the 
history of a nation ; a fact standing by itself— unparal- 
leled. It is that of a people rising up, and at a blow 
destroying the religious system in which they and their 
ancestors had lived, sweeping away their idols, 'casting 
them to the moles and to the bats ; ' and, what is more 
strange than all, some of the priests concurring in and 
assisting at the demolition. This spontaneous movement 
was no triumph of Christianity,— for Christianity had 
not yet claimed or even approached theHawaiian Islands. 
It was no reformation of a religious system, for it was 
its total overthrow and abolition. The mountains were 
being made low,— but as yet no voice was heard crying 
in the wilderness, ' prepare ye the way of the Lord.' The 
thin and torn but accustomed garment of paganism was 
to be thrown violently away ; and those who had worn 
it were to remain for a time, not 'clothed upon,' but 
left naked and shivering in absolute atheism. 

We must recall briefly the efficient causes which led to 
this event. Liholiho, the son of Kamehameha, succeeded 
to the kingdom on his father's death, being at the time 
twentv-two years of age. As has been stated, he had 



A NATION OF SCEPTICS. 181 

already, in 1809, been invested with royal honours, in 
order to secure a quiet and uninterrupted succession to 
the crown. In character he was very unlike his lather. 
His disposition was frank and humane, indolent and 
pleasure-loving-. The very force of one man's character 
not unfrequently dwarfs that of others who long have 
dwelt under its shelter. In his father's lifetime there 
was no call, no room for original energy or action; and 
there would be no competition of wills where the result f 
of a struggle was certain beforehand. The prince f 
possessed dignified and agreeable manners, an enquiring 
mind and a retentive memory ; but he lived a dissipated 
existence, and was intemperate in the use of stimulants. 
As long as his father lived, little or no change was per- 
ceptible in the idolatrous system of the nation. Un- 
questionably there had been a growing scepticism in 
the people's mind about the gods they bowed to, and 
a growing knowledge of and impatience under the yoke 
of oppressive services, tabus, &c., jointly fastened on 
their necks by the tyranny of kingship, chiefdom, and 
sacerdotalism, uniting in the common object of their 
own aggrandizement. A leaven was working in the 
mass. The sparks of light left by Vancouver were not 
entirely trodden out. These were directly for good. 
Intercourse with foreigners was a more mixed influence, 
and a more indirect path towards better things. Sen- 
sual, scornful, and devoted to avarice as was the Hfe of 
many of the white visitors, it was denied even to these, 
whatever might be in their heart, to be quite as the 
heathen were. There was the vital phenomenon of 
double consciousness ; and in the fever of excess they 
sometimes uttered the words of an early piety, and 
reproduced long-forgotten fruits of childhood's teaching. 
The foreigners set bad examples of Christianity ; but 



182 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the universal ' Nay,' according to Mr. Carlyle, has to 
precede the universal 'Yea;' and their open disbelief 
and ridicule of the idolatrous system existing, made the 
Hawaiians sceptical at least ; though, as was natural, 
fear in many cases mingled with their disbelief. They 
were now eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil, and their eyes were open : they saw that all things 
around them were false, and that they themselves were 
naked;— but the other plant, of heavenly growth, the 
tree of life, had not been given to them as yet. 

The rumour, too, had come to them, that in Tahiti 
and in groups farther to the south the idols had been 
destroyed without ill effects to the people. There Chris- 
tian missionaries had commenced their work, the rivalry 
of pagan images would not be tolerated, and they would 
necessarily, as Christian principles prevailed, be sup- 
pressed. Unquestionably there were those among the 
Hawaiians whose interest it was to continue the system 
of idolatry ; Uzzahs, who stretched out both hands to 
uphold a tottering ark, and who struggled hard in every 
way to support it ; uttering short-sighted prophecies,-— 
of which the only afflatus was their own wrath and their 

own wishes. 

The material idols themselves existed in immense 
numbersln the islands. They consisted of two or three 
kinds; the greater number were grotesque figures 
carved in wood, frightful caricatures of humanity having 
a conventional imitation of nature which might have 
satisfied our most fastidious art-critics of the present 
day ; the features often passing off into ornament, not 
the least realistic, and the hair descending, like two 
saws, to the feet. Some of the idols, including the 
plinth in which they stood or sat, were sixteen feet high. 
Besides these gigantic figures there were others of 



IDOLS AND TEMPLES. 183 

various sizes, in black and other woods, and of stone. 
One wooden deity liad human hair fastened on its head, 
and shark's teeth in its huge gaping mouth. The 
workmanship of some was fine. The image of Lono, 
the Hawaiian Hercules, for whom Cook was mistaken, 
was a tall, small, round staff of black wood, terminating 
in a head of the same diameter as the rod, the eyes inlaid 
with pearl-shell. Some of the idols were of an obscene 
character. The menacing expression and distorted 
features of many of them were meant to terrify the 
enemies of their worshippers, the idols being carried 
during war in front of the army, with their bearers and 
the priests making horrid yells and shrieks to give 
greater effect to their ugliness. Besides these there 
were feather gods very skilfully formed of the plumage 
of birds closely imbricated, sometimes wrought upon 
basket-work. Specimens of the idols can be seen in the 
British Museum and in the Museum of the London 
Missionary Society. Many were brought to England in 
1824, when Liholiho visited this country ; some of them 
before being exhibited having received a necessary 
castigation. 

A gradual change of sentiment had been going on 
during the last years of Kamehameha's reign, and the 
materials for combustion were to some extent piled and 
ready for the torch which was to make them ignite. 
Whilst the King Hved, his strong repressive hand aUowed 
no attack to be ventured on the idolatrous system which 
he considered it advisable to uphold ; indeed, his energy 
in religion was in accordance with his entire character. 
He had attended to its ritual ; he had built and repaired 
heiaus (temples), some of great size. Mr. Ellis and his 
fellow-missionaries counted nineteen of these buildings 
in one day's walk, the dimensions of one morai or heim 



184 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

being 270 feet by 210 feet, with massive stone walls, 
and a circular mound of earth in the centre for an altar, 
carefully formed, and having a kerb of stones round it. 
Now he was gone, and the heavy restrictive hand was 
removed. The death of a king or a high chief was 
always signalized by a period of frantic grief and 
mourning, which was followed by a kind of popular 
madness, — a wild saturnalia, in which the dissolution 
of morals was inconceivable. The meal after a Scottish 
funeral and its whisky-drinking, and the battle-royal at 
an Irish wake, make us less surprised at the phenomena 
of grief relieving itself in intoxication and excess. At 
the death of Kamehameha there does not appear to 
have occurred as great disorder as usual. Opinion was 
changing — advancing ; and the time had arrived when 
it would make itself heard, though at first timidly and 
uncertainly. On the very day of the King's death, 
a woman ate a cocoa-nut with impunity, and some 
families broke tabu by taking their meal together under 
the same roof. Small indications these, but important, 
inasmuch as they were the first rending asunder of a 
system which had oppressed the nation through unknown 
generations. 

Female influence was greatly concerned in the destruc- 
tion of idolatry, for females were the peculiar objects 
of its tyranny. It is certain that there were instances 
of great conjugal affection among the Hawaiians, and 
that women, especially in war, acted with the noble dis- 
interestedness which belongs so greatly to women's cha- 
racter ; but in social position they were little raised above 
domestic animals. To eat under the roof of the men's 
apartment, was death. The same punishment followed 
women's eating several kinds of food. Such treatment 
made the ladies quite ready for a change of institutions. 



INFLUENCE OF KAAHUMANU. 185 

The two queens of Kamehameha had imbibed liberal 
tendencies. Unlike each other in every other respect, 
they coincided in this ; and both played an important 
part in the overthrow of the old religion. In relation 
to one another and to their common husband, they 
were as Leah and Rachel. Keopuolani had the higher 
rank and precedence, and she was the mother of the 
two successors of the King. Kaahumanu was beloved 
for her own sake. She was a woman of remarkable 
character, with strong passions and great failings : but 
she was a fit mate for the warrior-king, and made no 
unworthy Caia to his Caius. She seems to have drawn 
in, during her long and intimate association with him, 
her husband's own disposition ; and when he died she 
reproduced his character, reflected from her woman- 
hood. It was the moon taking ' up the wondrous tale ' 
after the setting of her lord from whom she derived 
her light. Kaahumanu had eecured to herself, even in 
Kamehameha's life, a great share of authority, to the 
exclusion of her superior but less powerful rival ; and 
on the King's death it was Kaahumanu who transferred 
the kingdom to Liholiho, announcing at the same time 
that by his father's will she was to share the adminis- 
tration of government with him, and in case of his 
misconduct the supreme power was to devolve upon 
her alone. Kamehameha had had fears on account of 
the dissolute tendencies of his son, and had planned 
this wise check upon his follies and this succedaneum 
for his incapacity. From that time a female has always, 
until the present reign, occupied the second place in 
the government ; and, under the name of Premier, her 
authority is essential in all public acts. 

Both the dowager queens advised the young King 
Liholiho, who wavered between his own scepticism and 



186 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the persuasions and threats of the interested priests, 
to break the tabu. That act was to throw away the 
scabbard and to declare war a Voutrance with the 
established system. His younger brother, Kauikeaouli, 
invited by his mother, took this step by eating with 
her. Liholiho had not opposed the intention ; and when 
he saw that no bad effects followed from ai noa, or 
' common eating,' he said, ' It is well to renounce tabus, 
and for husbands and wives to dwell together,' adding, 
'There will be less unfaithfulness and fraud.' Kaa- 
humanu also urged the King, in his indecision, to 
disregard the restraint of tabus. 

Liholiho, richly dressed, and wearing the regal feather- 
mantle, surrounded by a brilliant retinue, was crowned ; 
and received, at his accession, the name of Kame- 
hameha II. His mother again urged him to violate 
the tabu ; and to persuade him more forcibly, set the 
example herself. When it is remembered that death 
had been the penalty for such an act, it will be seen 
that courage was required in taking this open step. 
But Liholiho was a waverer. He could not break his 
chains at once; he joined in religious festivals where 
revelry and licence mingled with the sacred rites, and 
he even consecrated a temple to his special god. 

Another female who was instrumental in the over- 
throw of idolatry, was Kapiolani, wife of Naihe, the 
public orator of the kingdom. This is the chiefess 
who, some time afterwards, when she was a Christian, 
won herself a name by descending into the crater of 
Kilauea, daring the vengeance of Pele, the divinity 
of the volcano, in her own domain, in order to con- 
vince the wavering spectators of the falseness of their 
superstition and the safety of those who have the Lord 
for their God. This action deserves to rank high in the 



A PEIESTLT ICONOCLAST. 187 

records of female heroism. We know practically that 
when we have escaped from the blackness of spiritual 
terrors, we often walk still in the shadow of a mys- 
terious fear. Our reason is convinced, but our natural 
sensibilities still vibrate. Sir Samuel Eomilly has re- 
corded that to the end of life he never quite got over 
the effects made on him by ghost stories told him in his 
childhood ; and that he often started with a momen- 
tary apprehension when sitting alone at night in his 
chamber. 

But the most remarkable and unlikely accessory to 
the movement was the High Priest Hewahewa. He, 
instead of striving, as did many of his brethren, to 
arrest the course of events, heartily urged it onward, 
and became a chief iconoclast, a strange instance of 
liberality of mind ; for he was not only breaking up 
the system which had been interwoven with his whole 
life, but in its destruction he was casting away his own 
influence, and even the means of existence. He sub- 
sequently related the steps by which he and the King 
came to an understanding between themselves upon the 
subject that was working in both their minds. The 
danger in which a disclosure would place each of them, 
the uncertainty of the other's feelings, made it difficult 
to arrive at the intelligence desired. It was obtained at 
last during a happy conversation, in which coy questions 
were parried by answers coy, yet not denied ; and at 
last their sentiments were fully made known to each 
other. Those who have loved long and mutually in 
timid silence, and at length have tentativel}^, in a similar 
conversation, felt along the delicate clue to each other's 
heart, will be able to appreciate all the difficulty and 
all the delight of such an investigation and such a 
revelation. 



188 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

In August of the same year, the French corvette 
' L'ltranie,' commanded by Captain Freycinet, arrived 
and remained at Honolulu for a few days. Whilst there, 
Kalaimoku the prime minister (he to whom the English 
residents gave the name of Pitt), and his brother Boki, 
Governor of Oahu, received the rite of baptism ac- 
cording to the usage of the Koman Catholic Church, 
and apparently at the hands of the chaplain on board. 
The two chiefs do not seem to have been aware of the 
meaning of the ceremony, but probably considered it a 
piece of French etiquette ; nor does the circumstance 
appear to have had any great effect on the events which 
shortly followed. The two chiefs interchanged presents 
with Captain Freycinet and then returned to their idol- 
atrous practices as before. Mention of the circumstance 
is not, however, to be omitted. 

Kaahumanu's opposition to the priests was in her, 
meanwhile, becoming more determined; and in No- 
vember she sent a message to the King, that on his 
arrival at Kailua she should cast aside his god. Liho- 
liho did not oppose his imperious coadjutor; but to 
avoid bad consequences to himself for this impiety, he 
kept off the shore, and remained afloat two days with 
his suite, indulging in a drunken revel. At last Kaa- 
humanu sent and fetched him on shore ; his remaining 
fears vanished, and he and the female Premier con- 
sulted as to the measures necessary for destroying the 
tabus and idolatry. The King's first step was to drink 
and smoke with the female chiefs. This, though 
hitherto wrong and still dangerous, would not be unplea- 
sant to a man of his disposition. In what ensued, 
Mr. Jarves's account will be followed verbatim. 



ABOLITION OF IDOLATEY. 189 

A feast was prepared, after the customs of the country, with 
separate tables for the sexes. A number of foreigners were 
entertained at the King's. When all were in their seats, he 
deliberately arose, walked to the place reserved for the 
Avomen, and seated himself among them. To complete the 
horror of the adherents of paganism, he indulged his appetite 
in freely partaking of the viands prepared for them, directing 
the women to do likewise : but he ate with a restraint which 
showed that he had but half divested himself of the idea of 
sacrilege and of habitual repugnance. This act, however, was 
sufficient. The highest had set an example which all rejoiced 
to follow. The joyful shout arose, ' The taboo is broken ! the 
taboo is broken ! ' Feasts were provided for all, at which both 
sexes indiscriminately indulged. Orders were issued to de- 
molish the heiaus and destroy the idols. Temples, images, 
sacred property, and the relics of ages were consumed in the 
flames. The high priest, Hewahewa, having resigned his 
office, was the first to apply the torch. Without this co-opera- 
tion the attempt to destroy the old system would have been 
ineffectual. Numbers of his profession, joining in the enthu- 
siasm, folloAved his example. Kaumualii having given his 
sanction, idolatry was for ever abolished by law; and the 
smoke of heathen sanctuaries arose from Hawaii to Kauai. 
All the islands uniting in a jubilee at their deliverance, 
presented the singular spectacle of a nation without a religion. 

Certainly the event recorded is one on which a 
philosopher may ponder, or an orator open his lips in 
eloquence. It is one on which the Christian will look 
with reverent interest, waiting to see the end ; recalling 
in the meantime such prophetic words as these, ' And 
the idols he shall utterly abolish.' A native Hawaiian 
has lately mentioned the fact that he himself saw forty 
thousand idols destroyed. They were hurled from their 
places, where they had been worshipped upon every 
high hill and under every green tree; they were 



190 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

contemptuously tossed aside to perisli, or, more con- 
temptuously, left forgotten, as they stood decaying 
in grinning imbecility. Kemains of these ^ despised, 
broken idols ' are still occasionally to be found in the 
islands, but they are regarded as curiosities, interesting 
only as belonging to a former state of things. 

Then, to fancy's ear, came moaning along the rocky 
shores, murmuring in the passionate mountain torrents, 
and sighing in the winds, the melancholy wail, ' G-reat 
Pan is dead I ' Through the old primeval forests cloth- 
ing the flanks of the volcanoes, echoing from dread 
precipices, and heard on the winds that rushed down 
smiling valleys, came the same despairing strain, ' G-reat 
Pan is dead I ' The Ocean, as he ran his waves hoarsely 
on the rude shore and into resounding caverns, took 
up the imiversal cry. ' Blush, Zion, saith the sea,' 
was formerly the exhortation, when vile rites polluted 
and human sacrifices terrified the Syrian shore: but 
now, as the coming tide sent in her white breakers and 
boomed over the coral ledges of Hawaii, the triumphant 
song which mingled with the roar of waters had the 
one burthen, — ' Great Pan is dead ! ' 

It would have been contrary to all experience that 
such a revolution should be accomplished without dis- 
turbance and opposition. Vested interests scream and 
writhe when the destroying foot is set on them. A 
fierce, tyrannical sacerdotalism would not consent with- 
out a struggle to be turned adrift with the prospect 
before it of its members having to starve, or, still worse, 
of having to obtaia a livelihood by the honest labour of 
their hands. Accordingly, a party was quickly formed 
to oppose the movement, and for its head was selected 
Kekuokalani, a priest only inferior in rank to Hewa- 
hewa, and who was also nephew to the late King. 



'great pan is dead.' 191 

Eeligion was made the bait to allure him in revolting' 
against the established government ; but in addition to 
the disinterested honour of being Defender of the Faith, 
he was to have the crown of the kingdom, if success at- 
tended his standard. The rebels were soon encountered 
by the government or freedom party, and in a slight 
engagement, the former gained a success. On this in- 
telligence reaching the King, a council was held ; and 
Kalaimoku (William Pitt), his trusty adviser, urged an 
immediate attack with all the royal forces on the in- 
surgents at head-quarters. First, however, Hoapili, 
guardian to the King's sister, and Naihe the orator^ 
were sent to the rebel camp on an embassage of conci- 
liation. They were accompanied by the queen-mother, 
Keopuolani, to whom Hoapili had stood, even in her 
royal consort's lifetime, in the position of what may be 
called her acting husband. The rebel chief was their 
nephew. The negotiation, however well intended, was 
ineffectual, and the ambassadors were glad to retreat 
from the enemy's camp with their lives. The rebels 
immediately marched from their position to Kailua, 
wliere the King lay, hoping to surprise and take the 
position. Kailua is situated in a small bay on the 
western side of Hawaii, a few miles north of the scene 
of Cook's death. The King's troops were prepared to 
meet the enemy, and advanced to meet them. At 
Kuamoo they formed a line on the shore, having the 
sea at their back, and on the enemy appearing, drove 
them before them up a rising ground till the rebels 
gained a shelter from a stone fence, and for a time 
made a stand ; but they were at length driven from their 
position by a party of Kalaimoku's warriors. The in- 
surgents were now in flight ; but, rallied by their mis- 
guided chief, himself wounded and weak from loss of 



192 HAWAIIA^^ ISLANDS. 

blood, they made a final stand. Kekuaokalani, with 
the courage that belonged to his race, fought despe- 
rately ; but he fainted and fell during the engagement. 
He revived, however ; and sitting on a fragment of lava, 
for he was too weak to stand, twice loaded his musket 
and fired on the advancing party. He was then struck 
by a ball in the left breast, and covering his face witli 
his feather-cloak, he expired, amidst friends who sur- 
rounded him. Again we are called upon to admire a 
woman's devotion. His wife, Manona, had fought by 
his side the whole day with dauntless courage ; but as 
soon as she saw him lying dead, the motive which ani- 
mated her withered up, and she called for quarter to 
Kalaimoku and his sister, who were advancing. As the 
words were leaving her lips, a ball struck her temple ; 
and the faithful wife fell on the lifeless body of her 
husband, and instantly expired. 

The engagement, which commenced in the forenoon, 
was conthiued till sunset, the idolaters fighting on, 
though dispirited by the loss of their leader. By 
evenino-, the King's troops were left masters of the field, 
their enemies having by that time surrendered or fled. 

Thus ended the last battle which the narrator of 
Hawaiian history has to record. War is a great evil ; 
but experience has shown it to be not an unmixed evil. 
It evokes fierce passions, but it calls forth at the same 
time dormant virtues, which are apt, in the piping time 
of peace, to be forgotten, like an undrawn sword rusting 
in its scabbard. Endurance, self-sacrifice, loyalty, dis- 
cipline, hold no mean rank in the conclave of moral 
qualities. The courageous Hawaiian women generally 
followed the men to battle, to tend their wants, and 
especially to assist them when wounded. The more 
courageous of them, or the more atfectionate, would 



A heroine's tomb. 193 

advance to the front of the battle, side by side with 
their husband, bearing a calabash of water in one hand, 
and poising a dart or holding a stone with the other! 
If their warrior was killed, they seldom thought it 
worth while, themselves, to survive. 

Mr. Ellis visited the site of the battle of Kuamoo. 
He found the place thickly studded with small piles of 
stones, marking the graves of those who died in the 
conflict. A tumulus larger than the rest, indicated the 
spot where the chief and his heroic wife died together. 
A few yards nearer the sea, a tomb ten feet long and 
SIX wide, formed of piled stones, covered the grave where 
Kekuaokalani and Manona were interred. Many lovely 
flowering bushes grew around it, and a beautiful con- 
volvulus in fullest bloom covered the tomb with its 
foliage and blossoms. 







194 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH — ARRIYAL OF AMERICAN MISSION- 
ARIES — THE YISIT OF THE KING AND QUEEN TO 
ENGLAND, AND THEIR DEATH. 

SOME young Hawaiians had been taken to the United 
States, and there educated. The blessings of 
Christianity, which they valued in their effects on them- 
selves, they desired to impart to their fellow-country- 
men, by returning to the islands. This desire, and an 
interest relating to the Sandwich Islands, which had 
sprung up in the minds of the religious community in 
America, determined the sending of some missionaries 
to Hawaii. No intelligence had at that time been re- 
ceived of the events which have just been narrated. 
When the missionaries went forth, therefore, it was with 
the belief that the idolatrous system which had hitherto 
prevailed would be opposed to them. 

The courageous pioneers of Christianity despatched 
from Boston by the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions, were accompanied by several native 
youths, among whom was Greorge Kaumaulii, son of the 
former King of Kauai, and who, having acquired the 
English tongue, were able to render the important 
assistance of acting as interpreters. On the 4th of 
February, 1820, according to Ellis,* they arrived in 

* By Jarves's account, the day was the 20th of March. 



AEltlVAL OF AMEEICAN MISSIONARIES. 195 

Hawaii ; and by a striking coincidence, if we may not 
say by a directing providence, landed at Kairua, the 
very scene of the last battle of idolatry. Instead of 
those difficulties which they had every right to suppose 
awaited them, they found the laws of tabu abolished ; 
the priesthood, as a body, dissolved ; the nation set free 
from its degrading superstitious S3^stem ; and, religion- 
less, lying ready, like a fallow ground, to receive the 
seed of a new husbandry. The diffi culties which awaited 
the missionaries were of another kind. 

They were visited on board their vessel, the 'Thaddeus,' 
by Kaliamoku and the two dowager queens, by whom 
they had previously been kindly received. Hewahewa, 
too, the ex high-priest, welcomed them cordially, calling 
them his ' brother priests.' We must respect this man, 
who, without law, was a law unto himself, and acted 
faithfully to the extent of the light he possessed. He 
could not, of course, intuitively precognise the system of 
Christianity ; but he was able, before that system was 
revealed to him, to discover by reason the falsity of his 
national idolatry, and, with a noble self-sacrifice, assist 
in the overthrow af the rehgion w^hich upheld him in a 
position only a little inferior to the King's. He had 
publicly renounced heathenism, and had apprehended 
Monotheism, proclaiming his belief in the One Supreme 
Being. 'I knew,' he said, 'that the wooden images of 
our deities, carved by our own hands, were incapable of 
supplying our wants ; but I worshipped them, because 
it was the custom of our fathers. My thoughts have 
always been, that there is one only great God, dwelling 
in the heavens.' * 



♦ 



The conduct of the High Priest, Hewahewa, on this occasion recalls 
to mind a parallel in the history of our own land, when at the preaching 
of Paulinus, Ed\^dn of Northumbria was converted to Christianity. 

o 2 



196 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Some practical difficulties and prejudices had to be 
overcome before the missionaries were allowed to land 
permanently ; and now was the occasion of that question 
which, as we have mentioned, had been asked previously, 
— whether they were the white teachers whom Vancouver 
promised to send to them. For a fortnight, the Congre- 
ofationalist ministers had to remain on board the vessel; 
and then, after a council of chiefs had been held, they 
were permitted to settle on the islands for one year, with 
the understanding that on misconduct they would be 
sent away. They were not to send for an increase to 
their number, for fear that they might become a burthen 
to the community. Among the Bostonians who landed 
in Hawaii, were a physician, a farmer, a printer, and a 
mechanic ; and the three missionary ministers, as well 
as their lay associates, brought with them their wives 
and families. 



"Wordsworth, in a note to his fine sonnet on this occurrence, thus trans- 
lates from Bede : — 

' "Who," exclaimed the King, when the council was ended, "shall first 
desecrate the altars and the temples?" "I," answered the Chief Priest; 
" for who more fit than myself through the wisdom which the true God 
hath given me, to destroy for the good example of others, what in 
foolishness I worshipped ?" Immediately, casting away vain superstition, 
he besought the King to grant him what the laws did not allow to a 
priest, — arms and a courser; which mounting, and furnished with a 
sword and lance, he proceeded to destroy the Idols. The crowd, seeing 
this, thought him mad : —he, however, halted not, but approaching, he 
profaned the temple, casting against it the lance which he held in his 
hand, and exulting in acknowledgment of the worship of the true Grod, 
he ordered his companions to pull down the temple, with all its enclo- 
sures. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far 
from York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at this day called 
Gormund Gaham.' 

The remarkable difference between the two events is that the Ha- 
waiian Pontifex was not impelled by the motive of a knowledge of the 
true God, in his work of destruction. 



AN UNEXPECTED WELCOME. 



197 



Ihe propagandists of Cbristiamty commenced their 
work at once, and it proceeded rapidly. In Kauai 
wh.ch was still under the authority of a separate king,' 
though dependent on the general government, two of 
the missionaries were placed, and they took with them 
the young Christian, George, son of the King, who was 
deughted to receive him and his white protectors. 
George s arrival was hailed by a salute of twenty-one 
guns and the King continued till his death a steady 
triend to the missionaries. In Hawaii the two ex- 
queens and the minister Kalaimoku were the chief 
patrons of the new religion; nor was Kamehameha II. 
unfriendly to them; but his personal habits and his 
personal associates were not such as would make him a 
consistent follower of the Great Example of purity 
temperance, and self-denial. 

The facile natives hadfewprejudices to oppose to the 
new religion. Mentally, they were in a condition to 
accept as readily that or any other faith which should be 
proposed, as their bodies were to receive any new epi- 

f "";, ., f ,f "'' '^^'''y ^'^P°"^^d the cause, and 
begged that the important subsidiary benefits ;hich 
were connected with the religious teaching might be 
given to their people. They requested more arcisans 
whom they offered to support liberally. The Zg 
himself was very sensible of the importance of gaining 
knowledge. He applied himself so diligently, that by 
July he could read intelligibly, and several of the chiefs 
made rapid progress in learning. It was characteristic 
of their previous ideas, that at first these would not 
allow the common people to learn to read, as they con- 
sidered that knowledge, like the other good things of 
life, was the exclusive right of the governin.. class 
.Money, too, was given, both by natives and foreio-ners' 



198 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

for the purposes of the mission. Six hundred dollars 
were subscribed at Oahu for a school for orphan children, 
and in November, four schools had been established, 
containing one hundred pupils. At first the greater 
number of learners in the schools were adults. 

The quick, observing eyes of the natives found much 
and sometimes amusing food for their curiosity. The 
dress of the females, in which the ill taste of that time 
was added to the primness and imworldliness of attire 
befitting missionaries' wives, occasioned much astonish- 
ment to the decolletes Hawaiians. Their poke bonnets 
were described by the people as ' hats with spouts ; ' and 
they must indeed have presented an unbecoming ^ con- 
trast to the simple but elegantly-formed wreath of ilima 
flowers on the brows of the young beauties of the Pacific. 
The male missionaries excited watchful attention and 
even alarm ; for when, according to their custom, they 
prayed standing, and with their eyes closed, the natives 
supposed them to be sorcerers, and that they were pray- 
ing them to death, and fled from such dangerous 

strangers. 

No system like that of the disciplina arcani troubled 
the missionaries. They seem at once to have an- 
nounced the deepest metaphysical mysteries that are 
the objects of our faith, to a race whose language was 
peculiarly deficient in words expressing abstract ideas ; 
who had not even a name for gratitude; and whose 
poor, earth-bound faculties could only see things in a 
very direct aspect. When, therefore, the doctrine of 
the Holy Trinity was enlarged upon by the American 
ministers, we do not wonder that sad confusion was 
induced in respect to the Hypostasis, and that no nearer 
approach to the truth could be reached by the people 
than that the whites worshipped three separate gods, to 



. MISSIOXAET TEACHING AND X70BK. I99 

whom were given the names of three of their own 
discarded deities. 

To the honour of the missionaries be it said, that 
their little Augustinian band bravely laboured on ; en- 
countered with patience intellectual and other obstacles ; 
and made themselves masters of a difficult and very 
vocalic language to which, from that peculiarity, it was 
very hard to give phonetic expression. There was also 
directed against the Americans the opposition of many 
careless and depraved foreigners, who were incensed 
by any efforts to curtail the freedom with which they 
followed their cupidity and their libertinism. The 
King had made considerable advance in his studies, 
and was acquiring a knowledge of geography and of 
the customs, productions, and governments of other 
countries ; but, originally infirm of purpose, he forsook 
his pursuits and often relapsed into periods of debauch- 
ery, to whicli he was often led by his foreign asso- 
ciates. It will not be out of place to introduce here a 
short and approving summary of the missionaries' 
labours which appears in the report of the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions for the 
year 1860; which year was the fiftieth of the existence 
of the Board. The summary is from the hand of R. H. 
Dana, whose name is well known in this country by his 
published writings; and who, being a member of the 
Episcopal Church in America and a barrister, is Hkely 
to give an unprejudiced as well as an intelHgent 
resume of his own impressions and information derived 
from a visit to the Sandwich Islands, from which place 
he writes. 

It is no smaU thing to say of the missionaries of the Amer- 
ican Board, that in less than forty years they have taught this 
whole people to read and to write, to cipher and to sew! They 



200 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

have given tliem an alphabet, grammar, and dictionary ; pre- 
served their language from extinction ; given it a literature, 
and translated into it the Bible and works of devotion, science, 
and entertainment, &c. They have estabhshed schools, reared 
up native teachers, and so pressed their work that now the 
proportion of inhabitants who can read and write is greater 
than in New England. And whereas they found these islanders 
a nation of half-naked savages, living in the surf and on the 
sand, eating raw fish, fighting among themselves, tyrannized 
over by feudal chiefs, and abandoned to sensuality ; they now 
see them decently clothed, recognizing the law of marriage, 
knowing something of accounts, going to school and public 
worship with more regularity than the people do at home, 
and the more elevated of them taking part in conducting 
the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they 
ve, holding seats on the judicial bench and in the legislative 
chambers, and filling posts in the local magistracies. 

In a separate chapter, the successes and the failures 
of the American missionaries in christianizing the 
islands will be dwelt upon: and we need not now 
extract more of Mr. Dana's remarks, or the conclusion 
at which he arrived on the subject of a national 

religion. 

The King, whom we will continue to call Liholiho to 
distinguish him from his predecessor, notwithstanding 
the serious defects of his character and the frequent ex- 
cesses in which he indulged, retained that noble courage 
which distinguished his race. In Europe such courage 
would be called chivalrous, or rash. Here, Quixotic 
acts are sometimes the result of the code of honour, or 
are performed under the knowledge that a multitude of 
eyes are fixed upon the actor : in less sophisticated 
peoples, they are impulsive. In 1821, Liholiho, being 
angry or jealous of the titular King of Kauai, father of 



PERILOUS EXPEDITION TO KAUAI. 201 

the youth Greorge who returned with the missionaries 
to his country, determined to pay Kaumualii a personal 
visit. The latter had addressed his suzerain as King of 
the Windfsrard Islands; an implication which made 
Liholiho angry and uneasy. Kauai was one hundred 
miles distant from Oahu, where the King was residing. 
He had never made the passage ; the channel is rough ; 
and when he sailed thither in an open craft the boat- 
men had neither chart nor compass, nor even water for 
the voyage. The King insisted, however, on their 
steering for the island, he himself indicating the direc- 
tion. Twice the boat, in which he had crowded thirty 
attendants, including two women, had nearly capsized. 
On his people entreating him to put back to Ewa, his 
answer was an order to bale out the water and proceed ; 
adding that if, against his authority, they made the 
boat return to Oahu, he would leap into the water and 
swim to Kauai. With much exertion and great peril, 
the island was at last reached, but a night of danger 
had yet to be passed through. The day-break saw 
them cast anchor off the shore, exhausted with fatigue 
and hunger. What followed redounds little to the 
honour of Liholiho, however much his adventurous 
voyage speaks for his courage. 

Directly Kaumualii, the King of Kauai, heard of the 
arrival of his suzerain, either ignorant of tlie spirit in 
which he came, or rather, it would appear, from a high- 
minded courtesy, he hurried on board the boat in which 
his guest arrived, and welcomed him to his dominions. 
Had he considered the Hawaiian an enemy, he might 
easily have secured him and put him to death : instead 
of this, he prepared a house for Liholiho's use, and 
sent away two vessels to Oahu to bring two of his 
wives, with their retinues. In the same forbearing 



202 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

spirit, Kaumualii, instead of demanding from the King, 
so completely placed in his power, a renunciation of 
all authority, and a declaration of the independence 
of Kauai, fulfilled his agreement made with Kame- 
hameha ; and offered a formal surrender of his king- 
dom to a guest who might have been considered his 
prisoner. Faithful to the conditions of that compact, 
he addressed Liholiho, though with much emotion, 
acknowledging the superiority of the first Kame- 
hameha, and on that king's death, the rightful suc- 
cession of Liholiho. He placed at his guest's dis- 
posal his ships, his forts, his ammunition, his island, 
as being his; inviting him to name a governor for 
Kauai, and to send himself (Kaumualii) where he 

chose. 

The chiefs magnanimity was met by deceitful con- 
duct. Liholiho disclaimed in courteous language any 
wish to assume the island, or to alter its guardianship 
in any way. His reply commanded shouts of appro- 
bation on both sides. Kaumualii continued to treat 
his guest kindly and hospitably; but the guest was only 
waiting his opportunity. The chiefs he was expecting 
having arrived in a fine vessel the King possessed, he 
invited his host on board ; and whilst Kaumualii was 
being entertained below, sail was made on the vessel, 
and he found himself, in an instant, a state prisoner. 
Keeaumoku was made governor of his island, and the 
Kauaian king was brought to Honolulu, where, though 
he was allowed to retain his suite, all authority was 
taken from him. He was even separated from his 
favourite wife, and compelled to marry the imperious 

Kaahumanu. 

In 1822 the first printing-press was set up and used. 
The energetic chief Keeaumoku was present on the 



THE FIRST PRINTING-PRESS. 203 

occasion, and assisted in working off the first im- 
pressions. This year, also, the missionaries occupied 
themselves in forming a Hawaiian alphabet. The 
King, Kaahumanu and many of the chiefs, became 
diligent scholars ; and, their example being followed by 
many others, the schools increased and flourished. In 
a short time Liholiho was able to write legibly. In 
the spring of the same year Mr. Ellis, a missionary 
then engaged in Tahiti, paid a visit to the islands. His 
zeal is only equalled by his intelligence ; and the inter- 
esting accounts he has published of his researches, his 
tour through Hawaii, and his visit to Madagascar pro- 
mote not only the cause of Christianity, but that also 
of civilization, and scientific investigation. 

The vessel which Vancouver had promised that his 
sovereign would present to Kamehameha I. was sent 
by George IV. to Liholiho. It was a schooner carry- 
ing six guns, and named the ' Prince Eegent.' In ac- 
knowledging this gift, which was done by a letter 
conveyed by Captain Kent on his return to England, 
Liholiho announced to the King the death of his father 
and the conquest of all the islands ; and he begged to 
place them all under the protection of His Majesty. 
His letter conveys the intelligence of the abolition in 
the islands of ' the former idolatrous system,' and con- 
tains the following words :— ' We wish the Protestant 
religion of your Majesty's dominions to be practised 
here.' 

Whilst we rejoice at seeing barbarism displaced by 
growing enlightenment, we cannot but feel some interest 
in those outward manifestations of an ancient error 
which, now passing for ever away, become invested 
almost with sentiment. Pomps and ceremonies no 
longer oppressive in their display, pass into the museum 



204 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

of what is curious and antique. For this reason the 
annual festival commemorating the death of his father, 
held by Liholiho in 1823, deserves mention. It was 
the last national exhibition of ancient Hawaiian 
customs. Just before it was held, a large accession 
of missionaries had arrived from America, and many 
organic changes were at hand. This feast was the last 
glowing light of the barbaric sunset. The missionaries 
and all respectable foreigners were invited, and were 
present at it. Two hundred persons sat down to dinner 
in a bower which had the dimensions of a banqueting- 
hall. The dress of the whole party was de rigueur, 
•Black had been adopted as the Court colour. In the 
midst of dinner, a procession entered the salon which 
must have been striking from its numbers, its object, 
and the contrast it formed with the guests. Four 
hundred natives, clad in white, marching in single file, 
deposited their taxes at the feet of the King. The 
festival, which lasted several days, was concluded by an- 
other procession ; this latter being in honour of the five 
queens of Liholiho. Solid phalanxes of men bore aloft 
platforms covered with cloth and beautifully-coloured 
tapa, on which were supported boats : the outer rank of 
bearers wearing feather cloaks of scarlet and yellow, 
and superb helmets of the same material. In the first 
boat was seated Kamamalu. She was habited in a 
mantle of scarlet silk, and wore on her head a coronet 
of feathers. An immense coloured and gilded umbrella, 
carried by a chief, sheltered the queen from the sun. 
Kalaimoku, the prime minister, and Naihe, the public 
orator, clad in the tnalo, or girdle of the old regime, 
of scarlet silk, and lofty helmets, stood on either side of 
the queen. Each bore in his hand a kaJiili, or staff of 
royalty, thirty feet high, the upper part being a cylinder 



THE SUNSET OF BARBARISM. 205 

of scarlet feathers eighteen inches in diameter. After- 
wards came the prince and princess, the queens- 
dowager, &c., the chiefs carrying hereditary symbols of 
rank. It was a many-coloured procession, brilliant with 
gay plumes and wreaths of beautiful flowers whose gem- 
like setting was their dark-green foliage. Songs and 
acclamations, many hundred dancers and singers, drums 
and other native musical instruments, gave animation 
to a scene which tlie spectators would not forget, because 
sufficiently remarkable in itself, and which would also 
be remembered because it was the last. 

In the autumn, the queen-mother, Keopuolani, died 
Her conduct having indicated a change of character 
she was baptized before her death, and spent her last 
hours m giving directions about the religious welfare 
of her relatives and people. She was buried with the 
rites of Christian sepulture. Minute guns were fired 
as the corpse, borne by the five wives of the King and by 
a high-chieftainess, was carried to its last resting-place 
The stones of an old heiau, or temple, desecrated now 
from Its former idolatrous use, were to be consecrated 
by the interment of a Christian neophyte, round whose 
grave they were to form a wall. To do honour to the 
departed queen, the stones were carried to their desti- 
nation by chiefs, male and female : Kaahumanu, who 
m size Howered above her sex,' bore a large stone 
whilst the inferior people walked beside their laborious 
superiors, carrying nothing but the feather kahilis. 

The King, Liholiho, had entertained a growing desire 
to visit England. In October a council was held at 
Lahaina, and he embarked in an English vessel, 
'L'Aigle,' together with his favourite wife Kamamalu' 
who, at the age of twenty-six, was still beautiful , Boki,' 
a chief, brother to the prime minister Kalaimoku, with 



206 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

his wife Liliha ; Kapihi, the King's naval commander ; 
Kekuanaoa his treasurer, a steward, and some servants. 
The King's younger brother, Kauikeouli, was appointed 
successor to the throne and heir to his private lands, in 
case he should never return. The 'Aigle,' with the 
royal party on board, left Honolulu on the 27th of 
November, amid sad forebodings of the people. Kama- 
malu, weeping among her weeping attendants, was the 
last to leave the shore. Perhaps a prescience of her 
doom oppressed her. Before stepping into the boa,t 
which was to convey her to the vessel, she turned to 
her affectionate people, whose love she had won by her 
amiability and domestic qualities, and uttered one of 
those touching laments or farewells which it had been 
the custom of her ancestors to make at parting. Simple 
and few were its words, but it was the genuine expres- 
sion of a sad and loving heart. 

After touching at Eio Janeiro, where the Brazilian 
Emperor treated the royal party with flattering atten- 
tion, and presented the King with a very handsome 
sword, Liholiho and his cortege landed at Portsmouth 
on the 22nd of May, 1824. The English Grovernment, 
on learning their arrival, appointed the Hon. F. Byng 
as a sort of guardian to these children of the far ocean, 
and to provide for their comforts. On reaching London 
they occupied apartments at Osborne's Hotel in the 
Adelphi. There was at first an easy abandon in their 
dress. The Queen and Liliha, in loose, carnival sort of 
trowsers, and improvised robes of original fashion, must 
have struck visitors as being, though handsome speci- 
mens of womanhood, yet ' not of the world,' —the world 
in which London and Paris move. However, tailors 
and milliners took the royal group speedily in hand. 
Liholiho adopted the Windsor uniform; and a profile 



LinOLIHO'S YISIT TO ENGLAJ^D. 207 

medallion of him was executed at that time, and presents 
a singular likeness to his royal brother George IV. 

Their time was occupied in sight-seeing and receiving 
visits. The nobility showed them many attentions; 
their likenesses were found in the picture shops. They 
dined, they travelled, they saw sights, in fact they lived 
in a whirl of engagements and excitements, whioh a 
delicate London girl might bear, but which was de- 
structive to the robust denizens of the Pacific. Before 
an opportunity took place for an introduction of the 
King and Queen to Greorge IV., one of LihoUho's house- 
hold was attacked by measles. Next day the King 
sickened, and by the end of a week the whole party 
were suffering from the same malady. The Queen 
became seriously ill. She was attended by Sir Henry 
Halford, Dr. Ley, Dr. Holland, and Mr. Peregrine ; but 
in spite of every care, the original disease degenerated 
into inflammation of the lungs. The Chief Boki and 
two more of the suite recovered rapidly. The King, 
too, made some progress ; and on the 4th of July was 
able to give audience to the newly-appointed English 
consul to his kingdom. On the 8th of July the in- 
teresting Queen Kamamalu was seen to be sinking. 
Her parting with Liholiho was very touching. All 
that her sorrowful soul had prophesied when she bade 
farewell to her native shore, had come to pass. She 
was dying,— far from her land and her beloved country. 
The royal pair held one another in a long, last embrace, 
their tears flowing unrestrained. In the evening the 
Queen died. The King is described as standing by the 
lifeless body, and apparently receiving some comfort 
from the new religion of which he had been but a par- 
tial scholar. Lifting upward his eyes, he exclaimed, 
' She has gone to heaven.' * The body of the Queen 

* The Times, 12th July, 1P24. 



208 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

lay in state ; and was then placed in a coffin on which 
the following words were inscribed : — 

TAMEHAMALU, 

QUEEN OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, 

DEPARTED THIS LIFE IN LONDON, 

ON THE 8TH JULY, 1824, 

AGED 22 YEARS. 

At the same time, and within the distance of lialf a 
mile, there was also lying in state a noble of England ; 
one who had achieved greatness beside the greatness he 
inherited. In the coffin of Greorge Grordon, Lord Byron, 
the hand which had written lines of fire was lying mo- 
tionless and lifeless at his side ; and thousands of his 
countrymen went to view the hearse of him who had so 
long stirred their souls with his song. Death had been 
precipitate with his two victims ; — a queen of two-and- 
twenty; — a poet of thirty-seven. Lord Byron's body 
lay at Sir Edward KnatchbuU's house, in Grreat George 
Street. The circumstance is mentioned here, from the 
coincidence by which the successor to his title. Captain, 
afterwards Admiral, Lord Byron, was commissioned to 
carry back the remains of the King and Queen of 
Hawaii to their native soil in the ' Blonde ' frigate. 

Owing to the death of Kamamalu the King became so 
depressed, that the partial recovery he had made was 
lost, and he too sank. After much severe suffering he 
breathed his last on the 14th. The event is thus de- 
scribed by the Court newsman of the day. ' It is our 
painful task to record, this day, the dissolution of the 
King of the Sandmch Islands ; which took place yester- 
day morning, at 4 o'clock precisely, at the Clarendon 
Hotel, Eobert Street, Adelphi.' * 

^ The Times, 15th July,, 1824. 



DEATH OF THE KING AND QUEEN. 209 

The same paper shortly afterwards gives an account 
of the lying in state of the deceased King : how the room 
was hung with feather tippets, and the regal war-cloak 
of spotless yellow plumes was displayed ; and from large 
china vases, draped with white linen, rose many wax 
Kghts ;— a semi-barbaric but impressive scene, with the 
dark-skinned friends and attendants of dead royalty, in 
silent grief, filling the chamber. 

Every attention and care had been paid to the suffer- 
ers. ' The King sent his own physicians, and the Duke 
of York his surgeon, and everything that England 
produced was at our command.' * 

The following is the inscription on the coffin :— 

KAMEHAMEHA II. 

KING OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, 

DIED JULY 14, 1824, 

IN THE 28TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. 

MAY WE REMEMBER OUR BELOVED 

KING lOLANI.f 

The ' Blonde ' sailed from Portsmouth on the 28th of 
September, carrying the remains of the King and Queen, 
and those of the retinue who survived. Before the 
latter left England, the King granted them an interview 
at ^^' mdsor. He received the little suite with his accus- 
tomed courtesy, and showed them more than accustomed 
kindness ; promising protection to their islands, in case 
any other power was disposed to encroach upon their 
sovereignty. Mr. Canning frequently conversed with 
them. All expenses whilst the Hawaiians were in 
England were defrayed by the Grovernment. 

On the voyage home, at Valparaiso, another of their 

* Eives's Letter to the Prime Minister. 

t A name by which he liked to be called by his intimate friends. 

P 



210 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

number died, Kapilii, the commander of the King's 
ships. Kekuanaoa the treasurer, and Liliha, Boki's wife, 
were baptized by the chaplain of the ship, Lord Byron 
standing sponsor. On the 4th of May, 1825, the 
' Blonde ' reached Lahaina. It is not our intention to 
enter into a description of the poignant grief with which, 
here and at Honolulu, a highly demonstrative nation 
greeted the funeral vessel. At Lahaina, the wail of the 
multitude, as they lifted up their voices and wept, 
echoed over the hills, and drowned the roar of the surf. 
Wild sorrow had always been displayed at the death of 
their kings and chiefs, although in so many cases they 
were hard oppressors. The Scythians wept at the birth 
of a child: it seems more unaccountable that the 
Hawaiians should have grieved so greatly at the death 
of those who often lorded it over them with tyrannical 
insolence, — but it was so. 

The funeral obsequies took place at Honolulu. No 
longer were the remains of the royal pair to be con- 
cealed, or carried to some open heiau, where grinning 
hideous idols kept watch upon the massy walls ; but 
amidst 'pious orgies, pious airs,' and attended with 
'decent sorrow, decent prayers,' those earthly relics 
were borne in a Christian procession, received in a 
chapel hung with black, and consigned to their long 
silence with religious services. The coffins were drawn 
on two cars surmounted by rich canopies of black, each 
of which was moved by forty of the inferior chiefs. The 
young King and his sister were followed by Lord Byron 
and the English Consul. Lines of soldiers extended 
half a mile, from the fort to the chapel, and the officers, 
band, and marines of the 'Blonde,' walked in files, as 
did the foreio-n residents. A hundred seamen of the 
frigate, in uniform, closed the procession. Of all the 



A CHEISTIAN FUNEIUL. 2il 

mourners, none felt more poignantly, than the veteran 
chief Kalaimoku, the prime minister. He had loved 
Kamehameha the warrior, and he had transferred his 
love to his king's offspring.* Now he saw them carried, 
young, to the grave :— hence those tears, which flowed 
freely down the old man's cheeks in spite of all his 
efforts to control them. 

* Kamamalu was the daughter of Kamehameha, though not the 
uterine sister of Liholiho. 



P 2 



212 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH — THE BEOOK BECOMES A STREAM 

AN APOSTOLIC PREFECT ARRIYES THE ARGONAUTS. 

^URINGr the expedition to England, several changes 
had occurred in the islands. Old things were 
passing away. At Kailua, the memorable scene of the 
last battle between idolatry and the iconoclasts, a place 
of Christian worship had been erected, in which the 
average attendance each Sunday was eight hundred 
persons. Kapiolani had become a Christian, dismissed 
all her husbands except Naihe, and had thoroughly 
adopted the habits of civilized life. This is the female 
chief who descended the crater of Kilauea. She died 
in 1841. The ex-King of Kauai died in 1824, also a 
convert, and a sincere one, to the new faith. He be- 
queathed his possessions to Liholiho. Keeaumoku, 
Kamehameha's old warrior, and Grovernor of Kauai, was 
also dead a short time previous to the decease of the 
sovereign of that island. His powerful grasp of the 
government having ceased, the Kauaians, on learning 
the death of their late king, threw off restraint, and 
renewed many heathen practices. It cannot be a matter 
of surprise that the echoes of heathenism would still 
return at first, although- the body of paganism was re- 
moved. They would be fainter, and only heard under 
favouring circumstances ; but in the present case they 



CONYEESION OF KAAHUMANU. 213 

had also a political association. The people connected 
the former system with their former independence ; and 
m the anarchy which reigned for a time in the is'land, 
an armed attempt was made to throw off subjection tJ 
the central government, to expel the new governor, and 
to promote George KaumuaJii, the late King's son, to 
the crown. The insurrection was, however, quelled by 
the usual vigour of the prime minister, Kalaimoku 
after some vigorous fighting and the execution of some 
chiefs. A grand council was held to settle the island 
finally, and it was formally annexed to the kingdom of 
Liholiho. 

The most conspicuous effect of Christianity was the 
change which took place in the Regent Kaahumanu. In 
the days of her heathenism she had been the haughtiest, 
the most imperious and the most cruel of her sex. When 
angry, her glance carried terror to her trembling vassals 
No subject, however high his station, dared "face her 
frown. Though friendly, to the missionaries, her per- 
sonal deportment towards them was lofty and disdainful 
She possessed unusual energy, decision, and ability 
which qualities, united with the experience and judg- 
ment of Kalaimoku, had often extricated the nation 
from the difficulties in which it was involved. After 
she had sat as a disciple at the feet of Christ, her strong 
character underwent an entire change. Her naturally 
warm affections burst through the cold, contemptuous 
habit with which she had overlaid them. She w^alked 
with meekness and consistency in her new course; was 
attached to those who had been the means of this reno- 
vation, and kind to all her people. ' The new and good 
Kaahumanu ' was the name by which she was frequently 
spoken of. If we sometimes think that here and else- 
where the introduction of Christianity has resulted in 



214 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

small and imperfect effects, it is important to observe 
in such instances as this its overcoming and transforming 
power. Her example led to the adoption of the Christian 
profession by many others, for people took note * that 
she had been with Jesus.' She died in 1832. 

Although the name of Kapiolani, the wife of Naihe, 
has been already mentioned more than once, and her 
daring exploit at the crater of Kilauea alluded to, that 
courageous act must be again instanced, as indicating 
the reality and power of the faith which she had 
adopted. In the vast and wild region occupied on the 
island of Hawaii by the great mountain Mauna Loa, its 
summit indented with a gigantic crater, its sides rent 
with other openings, through which at times the liquid 
fire flows, the priests of Pele, the dreadful deity of the 
volcano, lived in an almost inaccessible seclusion. It 
is in mountain solitudes, amidst crags and precipices, 
subject to the more awful phenomena of nature that 
patriotism and superstitions, conquered and driven from 
the plain below, find refuge, and preserve through 
centuries a persecuted but obstinate longevity. After 
Christianity had taken possession of the more general 
and fertile portions of the Hawaiian Islands, the old 
worship clung about that lofty and desolate mountain, 
the base of which covers 120 square miles;— it even 
chngs there still, to some extent, nursed by groanings 
and utterances from the tormented mountain, rocked by 
the fierce wild winds and storms, sheltered by clouds 
and mists, lighted by sudden spectral fires, and terrified 
by quakings and rendings of the soil. Few dwellers 
from below came to disturb the rites practised by the 
uncanny worshippers of Pele, for their bodies could not 
bear the cold and wet of the climate, and their souls 
were daunted by the real and imaginary horrors of the 



KAPIOLAlsI. 215 

spot. It was at the great active crater of Kilauea, on 
the side of this mountain, against the threats and vati- 
cinations of the assembled priests, and against traditions 
which till that time formed a part of her own nature, 
that Kapiolani, trusting in the power which has made 
all things,— exhibited the courage of a Christian woman, 
invaded the fiery sanctum of the goddess, ate the sacred 
berries, and cast some of them daringly into the heaving 
lava ; and having there praised God aloud, amidst the 
most stupendous instances of His power, she reascended 
to reprove the idolatry of the amazed worshippers of 
Pele, and to urge them to forsake it. 

There afterwards grew up in the mountain region a 
strange mixture of Christianity and the old heathenism, 
in which, like the Taiping in China, a Trinity was 
conceived and adopted, Hapu, a former prophetess, 
being united with Jehovah and Christ. This heresy 
did not last very long. A single missionary coming 
among the adherents of it, who were worshipping night 
and day in the temple, was the means of their abandon- 
ing the hastily-constructed faith and burning their 
temple. 

Kauikeaouli, Liholiho's younger brother, succeeded to 
the crown, receiving the dynastic name of Kamehameha 
III. He had been born in 1814, and consequently was 
only eleven years old at the time of his accession. Before 
Lord Byron left the islands, a grand council was held 
to confirm the succession to the young prince. Besides 
Lord Byron, the English Consul and Mr. Bingham the 
missionary were present at the meeting, with the high 
chiefs of the kingdom. Kaahumanu was continued as 
regent during the King's minority, and Kalaimoku as 
the prime minister. At the council another important 
act was passed, by which the landed possessions held 



216 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

by the chiefs became strictly hereditary and inalienable. 
By this organic law the feudal rights of the sovereign 
in bestowing lands were greatly curtailed, and the in- 
ferior people were left with very little land of their 
own, for the chiefs were found possessed of most of the 
available property. 

The history of the islands now becomes principally 
concerned in internal matters, very interesting to those 
who took part in them and to those who study what 
may be called the biography of a nation, but they have 
not sufficient breadth to detain a slight historical sketch 
like the present. The chief point of interest which 
marks the following years, was the struggle against 
licentious vice, which was carried on by the missionaries, 
and by the government and individual chiefs who had 
come under the religious influence of the missionaries. 
The various ships which touched at the islands had 
previously found little obstacle to the association of 
their crews with the native women. Native females 
used to visit the ships ; and captains going voyages 
would not unfrequently carry off with them a young 
Hawaiian as a compagne de voyage. But now it was 
found both by ships of war and by merchantmen that a 
great check had been placed on such licence ; and in 
the anger which the new system elicited, attacks were 
sometimes made upon the missionaries and others who 
interfered with the immoral traffic. Such an event 
took place in 1826, on the occasion of the U.S. schooner 
* Dolphin ' visiting Honolulu. Its crew made an attack 
and riot in the town, demanding to have the law passed 
by the chiefs abolished. Some dangerous wounds were 
received in the melee, and the captain taking the part 
of his ship's company, succeeded by importunity and 
threats in restoring: the visits of the women to the 



ASSOCIATION OF MISSIONARIES WITH GOVERNMENT. 217 

vessel during her stay there. Similar acts of violence, 
fruits of the same passions, were enacted by the crews 
of English and other vessels. 

It was about the same time that the American mis- 
sionaries became associated with the native government. 
It has been a frequent matter of accusation against them 
that they, being, as they consider, sons of Levi, took 
too much upon themselves ; that they interfered in and 
finally assumed too much of the governmental functions, 
forsaking for this purpose, as Dr. Judd and some others 
did afterwards, their ministerial capacity as religious 
teachers. Yet it is difficult to see how such a position 
could be altogether avoided. The native government 
was the head and the heart of that body politic which 
the missionaries desired to recover from sickness to 
health. With the countenance of the King and chiefs 
they could do much for the nation. They could do 
most by informing that head, and regulating the action 
of that heart. So they became in a strict sense amici 
carice; standing at first in the background, but prompt- 
ing, teaching, guiding, and efforming the government 
to some model, that model having its materials drawn 
from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. It is to be 
observed that, though they were citizens of the United 
States, it never was the object of the missionaries to bring 
about a republic in the islands. They had discretion 
to see that the genius of the people was utterly unfit for 
such a so-called self-government. They saw that king- 
ship was a necessity, and the extent of their endeavours 
and their achievement was to reduce the absolutism 
which they found, to the limitations of a constitutional 
monarchy, looking to Europe for the necessary types. 
In their zeal they were likely enough to introduce too 
much of the theocratic element, and they took the 



218 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

decalogue announced by Moses as the basis of the laws 
of Hawaii. None can doubt that some motives com- 
mon to humanity mingled with these disinterested 
aspirations. Missionaries, after all, are men. The 
desire of power, the charm of influence, the sacred 
thirst for gold, are co-extensive with, our race, and 
the most sacred offices do not always exclude their 
whisperings. 

Parties in the islands soon polarized themselves. In 
proportion as the chiefs, influenced by their teachers, 
began to set their face against open profligacy and 
hidden vice, and to enact laws in favour of morality, 
with punishments and penalties annexed to them, the 
curb was felt to gall those whose reasons for residing 
in the islands were the gratification of their unchecked 
passions and the unscrupulous acquirement of money. 
Many foreigners and a few of the inferior chiefs formed 
a party bitterly opposed to the converted government, 
and still more bitterly opposed to the religionists who 
were bringing about the change. The latter were accused 
of having assumed the entire power ; which however 
never was the case, nor could be while the daring will of 
Kaahumanu and the activity of Kalaimoku remained. 
Besides, there were some intelligent and well-principled 
lay visitors to the islands, whose counsels to the govern- 
ment were all for order, propriety, and progress. 

Unfortunately, the consul appointed by the English 
government placed himself on the side of the opposition. 
As a secular agent, he might properly feel some jealousy 
at the encroaching influences gained by the American 
party ; but his antagonism does not appear to have been 
judicious or temperate, and he held out to the Pro- 
testant missionaries the threat of introducing Eoman 
Catholic priests on the islands for their opponents. Mr. 



ANTAGONIST PARTIES. 219 

Charlton's conduct was the more unfortunate, inasmuch 
as his American adversaries were to be the historians of 
the period, and because the world looks now with a 
soberer eye upon the moral delinquencies of public men 
than it did thirt}^ years ago,— does not allow, in fact, 
for personal peccadilloes, unless in very great men in- 
deed, where the troublesome little black spots are lost 
sight of in the dazzling brilliancy of the luminary. 

The missionaries denied the allegations, pleaded mar- 
tyrdom, and invited examination of their proceedings. 
Captain Jones, in the U.S. ship ' Peacock,' arriving at 
Honolulu at the end of 1826, was made the umpire in 
such an investigation. He found the missionaries 
entirely in the right, Mr. Charlton and his lovites 
entirely in the wrong. If exuberance of expression can 
give additional force to rectitude, the American teachers 
must have been very right indeed. ' This great trial,' 
writes Captain Jones in his report, ' issued in the most 
perfect, full, complete, and trium'phant victory for the 
missionaries that could have been asked by their most 
devoted friends. Not one jot or tittle, not one iotci, 
derogatory to their character,' &c. 

In March 1827 died Kalaimoku (William Pitt), Hhe 
iron cable of Hawaii,' as the people called him. He 
was expiring of dropsy when Beechey visited the island, 
and saw him extended on his back in his tent. On his 
death the chief Boki, who had visited England and was 
G-overnor of Oahu, was appointed guardian to the young 
King— an unfortunate transition, for Boki's character 
was weak, though not without its good points. At this 
time the first attempts were made to codify the scat- 
tered edicts which had been issued by the King and by 
chiefs. The first written laws framed under the new 
regime were founded on the Mosaic decalogue. ' The 



220 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

opposition ' prevented the whole body going into ope- 
ration. Those intended as restraints on the sale of 
spirituous liquors and on certain immoral facilities were 
pretermitted; and enactments against murder, theft, 
and adultery were alone put into execution at that 
period. 

When Liholiho and his suite sailed on their expedition 
to Grreat Britain, a Frenchman of very indifferent 
character, named Kives, had attached himself to the 
party by concealing himself in the vessel till she was 
out at sea. The King, with his easy temper, allowed 
the volunteer attache to continue with him in London 
in the character of his interpreter. He was, however, 
after a time dismissed, and he then went to France, and 
occupied himself in schemes, the base of which was the 
Hawaiian Islands. He projected an agricultural con- 
cern for which he required artisans ; he also demanded 
priests for the christianization of the kingdom. The 
result was that Pope Leo XII. appointed M'^. J. C. 
Bachelot Apostolic Prefect of the Sandwich Islands, and 
he sailed thence in the ship ^ Comet,' accompanied by 
two priests and four mechanics. Eives, who had done 
thus much in the cause of religion, would not venture 
himself in the vessel with such a body of divinity, but 
proceeded in another, landed on the west coast of South 
America, and there disappears from history finally. The 
'Comet' arrived at Honolulu in July 1827, and its 
captain succeeded in landing the bishop, one priest, — 
the other having been lost overboard during the voyage, 
— and the mechanics, without the permit necessary by 
Hawaiian law. Their landing was entirely opposed by 
the government. Kaahumanu ordered the captain to 
take his living freight away again ; whilst Boki, with a 
moderation which does honour to his enlightenment, 



LANDING OF ROMAN CATHOLIC CLEEGY. 221 

entered into an explanation with the priests, showing 
them the serious disadvantage to a small and unprepared 
community of having within itself the exhibition of 
different doctrines. He pointed o ut that such a diversity 
might exist with impunity amongst large and en- 
lightened nations, whilst it was unfit and dangerous for 
the Hawaiians, mere neophytes of the Christian faith. 
He stated the universal wish of the chiefs that the 
French should not remain on the islands. 

However, there they were; and possession is nine 
points in ecclesiastical as well as other law. No perse- 
cution was used, and the authorities at last gave the 
settlers permission to remain till an opportunity could 
be found for their returning to Europe. Bachelot and 
his coadjutor, Short, were gentle and pious men. They 
combined the harmlessness of the dove with the wisdom 
of the serpent. ^ Perhaps the serpent character a little 
prevailed ; for it is clear from their letters, that when 
opportunities for their removal did occur, there occurred 
always at the same time difficulties which prevented 
their taking advantage of them. However, they were 
servants of a Church that requires obedience in her 
ministers. Their mission was to fix that Church in the 
islands ; and only two courses were open to the priests 
—martyrdom abroad, or disgrace at home. 

They could not complain of intolerance, either on the 
part of the natives or the American missionaries. In 
January 1828 they opened a small chapel ; and, in order 
that the priests might prosecute their necessary studies, 
the American mission lent them their own works ia the 
Hawaiian language. This was very liberal : but there 
is a great charm in having one's book read, even by our 
adversaries. 

Many natives were led to witness the ministrations 



222 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

in the Eoman chapel ; and great confusion of mind was 
the consequence on the subject of image-worship. The 
native mind was not then in a state to take the dis- 
tinctions between didia and latria, between essence and 
symbols. Kaahumanu, with her usual aplomb, cut the 
matter short with her own subjects. She punished 
many of them who had become converts to the Church 
of Kome, referring in justification to the edict against 
idolatry promulgated at the eventful period of 1819. 
A polemic war ensued ; but our little wayside brook of 
history, now swelling to the proportions of a stream, is 
rushing on too eagerly to busy itself with transactions 
which can be imagined as easily as they could be read. 
So we leave the sermons and discussions, the articles 
and pamphlets, and run along the brink, trying to keep 
pace with our busy rivulet. 

Boki, the clever but unstable Governor of Oahu, with 
his wife Liliha, relapsed sadly from the Christian faith ; 
and their example was followed by many others, who, 
remembering the flesh-pots of Egypt and loathing the 
light food of the new system, made somewhat like a 
wilderness by too great restrictions, fell back gladly 
into many of the licences of their former life. Even 
the young King, of whom Boki was guardian, fell into 
dissipation. A revolution was talked about, and some 
steps were taken in it ; but by energy, and judicious 
conduct in the ruling powers, it was crushed in the 
bud. 

In 1829 the young King, then sixteen years of age, 
first began to take an active part in public affairs. 
He issued a proclamation to the effect that the laws 
would be enforced against natives and foreigners 
irrespectively. 

At the end of this year an Argonautic expedition was 



BOKI S FATAL EXPEDITION. 223 

planned and executed, which ended most disastrously. 
Boki had been extravagant, and had encumbered him- 
self with debts. A large amount of dollars was found 
m some manner to be owing to the Americans, and 
which It was arranged by the captain of a U.S. man-of- 
war, who played the part of a national conscience, should 
be paid in sandal-wood. The crew of a vessel which 
arrived at Honolulu informed Boki that they had fallen 
m with an island in the South Pacific, which abounded 
with this valuable wood. Boki resolved to sail thither 
though the direction was extremely vague, and, with 
force and arms if necessary, take possession of the island 
and Its wood. Another account is, that Boki had re- 
solved on conquering the New Hebrides, a group of 
islands three thousand miles distant from Hawaii.* 

The ' Kamehameha,' a beautiful man-of-war bri^ was 
fitted out, with the ^ Becket,' a smaller vessel. ^Both 
ships were well furnished with arms, ammunition, and 
stores for colonizing. Five hundred people, including 
seamen, soldiers, and the foreigners, embarked in the 
two vessels. One hundred and seventy-nine crowded on 
board the 'Becket,' the burthen of which was one hundred 
tons ! They sailed on the 2nd of September, a day of 
gTief and tears to the inhabitants of Oahu, who stood 
weeping as they saw the ill-starred adventurers leave 
its shores. Boki, with all his faults, seems to have had 
something honest and noble in his nature; and as he 
took leave, he turned and addressed the people thus :— 
' Attend, my friends ! Hear what I have to say. You 
know my sin is great :— it smells from Hawaii to 
Kauai:— it is enormous; and it is my own, and 
not another's. I am about to take a voyage to 

* The Sandwich Islands, Alexander Simpson. London, 1843. 



224 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

extinguish the debt of the King, and not for unworthy 
purposes.' 

The poor man who found that his * offence is rank, — 
it smells to heaven,' and daringly resolved to steer into 
unknown seas in order to pay off his debt, was, in spite 
of his rashness, more honest than if he had gone through 
the Bankruptcy Court on his own petition. 

The expedition arrived at the New Hebrides and 
landed on the island of Rotuma, where, like the Spanish 
adventurers in America, they treated the inhabitants 
with harshness, and made them cut sandal-wood. Boki 
then sailed in the ' Kamehamehd ' for Erromanga, an 
island only a few days distant from Eotuma. The 
' Eecket ' had orders to follow him in ten days. Fate 
threw her black pall over the bold chief and his com- 
panions. Nothing was ever afterwards heard of the 
'Kamehameha ' or any of those on board. As they had 
a quantity of gunpowder with them, and were accus- 
tomed to smoke in the most careless manner, it has 
been thought probable that the ship was destroyed 
by an explosion. The companion ship, the ' Becket,' 
reached Erromanga, where the Hawaiians committed 
many outrages on the natives. Lives were lost in 
fighting, and an epidemic broke out amongst the ad- 
venturers, in which the leader, Manui, died, and many 
others. After a stay of five weeks at the island, to no 
purpose, the solitary little vessel set sail for Oahu. Her 
original company had been swelled by the addition of 
forty-seven natives of Rotuma ; so making two hundred 
and twenty-six persons on board a vessel of one hundred 
tons. Nothing that the ' Ancient Mariner ' could relate 
whilst he enchained listeners ' with his glittering eye ' 
approached the horrors which were enacted on this 
eventful voyage. 



THE ANCIENT MARINER. 



225 



Crowded with the sick, the dying, and the dead, the vessel 
became a floating charnel-house. The sufferings o^ he Uv n. 
were aggravated by fa.nine. They lay under I bt™Sn„ 12 
endunng agon.es of thirst, and were destitute of me^lesT: 

ofiti "''" ^"' '''"'^^' "^y 'y ^^y' -se h groan 
corn e The T^ ^'^ /^gress of the brig was tracked by 

J — e ,, .,, resetrrjrirS tM 

:i cars: ::i ri r;Xdra?d :: r 

SIX souls that composed the brig's livin. fre^ bnt twe T^' 
tumed,_and of these eight were forcCerr V r^ ^•''" 
had been left at Rotuma on the rZ some of"T '' "T"' 
wards fouad their wav back n„ T' qT . '"^""^ ''^'^'- 
the 'Beckef arriv7at HonoSu a'ndf 1^""""'' '''•'' 
disaster spread, the voice of wTelin. and 1 .ll' ""^ f *'" 
by night and by day The In ^ f ° "^ "^^^ ^^"^"^ 

. * Jarves, Hist. Hawaiian Islands. 



Q 



2'26 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEK XV. 

HISTOEICAL SKETCH — THE STREAM BECOMES A RIVER — 
REIGN OF KAMEHAMEHA III. 

THE Roman mission bad gained a footing upon the 
islands, and was determined not to be dislodged. 
There were now three parties at work, and amongst them 
the natives fared ill. There was the government, 
which, inspired by the American independent mission- 
aries, carried religious restrictions to a Puritanical 
extreme, enforcing them by punishments, so that inno- 
cent amusements ceased. Kaahumanu was much 
influenced by Mr. Bingham, the principal member of 
the mission, a sincere and disinterested man, possessing 
talent and energy, but injudicious in not considering the 
earthen vessels into which he was zealously pouring 
heavenly treasure. No punishment was considered by 
him and the associated government too great for the 
most venial offence. Riding on Sunday, even for 
foreigners, was forbidden ; the healthy exercise of swim- 
ming, in which the people ever delighted, was actually 
abandoned; and police constables entered private houses, 
and, like the intruders so touchingly described by 
Mr. Lillyvick, without any ' with your leave ' or ' by 
your leave,' walked away with the fermented liquids 
that might be on table. 

Then there was the party of reaction. To this the 



PUEZTAXS A.NI) PEOFUGATES. 



!>2: 



young King inclined, who unfortunately evinced dissi- 
pated habits at an early age. It included most of the 
toreign trading residents, the ' foreigners,' as they were 
called par excelk,ice, and a good many of the natives 
who were discontented with the rigid rule under which 
tliey found themselves, and sought licence under the 
name of liberty. The traders or ' foreigners ' as a com- 
mumty, though immoral, were not in every respect bad. 
They are described as 'an easy-going, free-living race- 
associating- together on terms of peculiar amity, and 
indulging m frolics of the most extravagant description. 
There was little rivalry among them.'* They seem 
almost to have made a joint stock of their profits, and 
were so careless or so trusting, that money and goods 
passed about amongst them without a written acknow- 
ledgment ever being thought of, and they scarcely ever 
entered into a settlement of accounts. When thev 
wanted land for houses, the chiefs friendly to them used 
to give It, and it was sometimes received without any 
deed or written title. A bitter feud existed between 
them and the missionary party. They accused the latter 
ot being the originators of the unwise restrictions of the 
government, and of holding back the inhabitants from 
a<lvancement, in order to increase their own influence. 
They viewed every action of the missionaries, however inno- 
cent or wel meant, with suspicion ; they called them,_and 
by frequently caUmg them so came to believe them to be _ 
hypocrites even in rehgion ; they supported a school for teach- 
ing native and half-caste children English, mainly because the 
system was opposed to the views of the missionaries; and 
they maintained a newspaper for several years, the chief aim 
of ^bich was to attack theu- religious adversaries, and throw 
doubt and discredit on all their efforts.f 

* A. Simpsou, Progress of Events, &c. Vwd 

Q 2 



228 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Finally, there was the Propagandist party. The 
priests had been treated with consideration. They had 
not been forcibly ejected from a land that never invited 
their presence ; and though Kaahumanu issued an order 
forbidding natives to attend their religious services, the 
Komanists were allowed to continue their labours among 
foreigners. In spite of this ordinance, numbers of 
native proselytes received instruction from the Eoman 
Catholics and met in their chapel ; and it was in the 
government's efforts to prevent and restrain its people, 
using force to compel the natives' absence from rites 
and schools, that ' The Persecution ' consisted. 

In thirty years, our own views on the subject of reli- 
gious liberty have changed materially. We no longer 
allow governments to persecute opinions ; we only per- 
mit that valued privilege to the religious or political 
parties themselves ; and they certainly act the tyrant 
with considerable zest. Whilst, therefore, we regret 
that the Hawaiian government in 1830 should have 
unwisely used harsh and repressive measures, we can 
scarcely blame them, — certainly cannot feel surprise : 
but we do see from our present point of view, that 
to impose penalties and imprisonment on the Romanist 
converts, and to treat thirty of them as malefactors, was 
exceedingly unwise. 

It may be 'easily conceived that a strong feud would 
exist amongst the three parties in whose ranks all the 
population was distributed. The American missionaries 
had been early in the field, and had laboured, if not 
always judiciously, with great activity. In ten yeai's 
from the commencement of their mission nine hundred 
schools had been established in the islands, taught by 
native teachers, and containing 44,895 pupils. It is a 
remarkable fact that in the Sandwich Islands education 



EELIGIOUS PARTIES AND PERSECUTION. 229 

has been more diffused, has embraced a larger propor- 
tion of the population, than it has ever done in Great 
Britam, in Prussia, or in New England. The mission- 
aries and a missionary government would naturally 
look with jealousy and anger upon their Eoman Catholic 
rivals. Kaahumanu had appointed her brother Kuakini 
Governor of Oahu. He was a shrewd, stern man • 
understanding the EngHsh language very well. With 
great energy he suppressed an insurrection which was 
developing itself on the island which had been placed 
under his charge, and he next proceeded, in 1831 to 
send away the priests from the country, to which they 
had clung with a parasitic tenacity since their iirst un- 
authorized settlement. Three notices at sufficient in- 
tervals were given to the French priests, as they were 
called, though one of them was an Irishman ; but the 
priests kept on never minding ; or, rather, they moulded 
the affair of extradition into such a form as to look 
like a religious persecution of themselves. Govern- 
ment decided on sending them from the country at its 
own expense : and as, opportunely, an invitation had 
been given to the priests by the Prefect of the Missions 
m Cahforma to join him there, where their presence 
was much needed, they were shipped on board a bri^ 
and early in 1832 were landed safely at San Pedro, and 
received a welcome reception from the Eoman Mission 
there. The artisans were not compelled to leave the 
islands. 

Motives, like the shield with gold and silver sides, 
look very different from opposite points of view. Seen 
from the government side, the Romanists were a set of 
intruders, trespassing upon its patience as tney did upon 
Its territory ; disregarding a civil notice to quit and 
requiring an ejectment under the old auspices of John 



23D HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Doe and Eichard Eoe : and even then, like the ghost of 
the Amundevilles, refusing to be driven away. From 
the station occupied by ' the faithful,' the two priests 
were a picket of the arm}^ of martyrs, holding true to 
their sacramental oath, and seeking by all means to 
plant in Hawaii the banner of the Cross. The result of 
their representations to the French government will be 
seen hereafter. 

This year, 1832, the year of the passing the Eeform 
Bill in England, died Kaahumanu, aged fifty-eight, — 
beloved and lamented. She had come late into the 
Christian vineyard, but when called within its enclosure 
she seems to have laboured, according to her light, with 
sincerity and activity. On her death her power and 
place were transferred to Kinau, an elder half-sister of 
the King's. She, like her powerful predecessor, was 
much under the influence of Mr. Bingham. The fol- 
lowing year the young King assumed the active duties 
of government. Unfortunately he was ill-prepared for 
such responsibilities. His original temperament was 
luxurious ; and the persons he had adopted, or who had 
adopted themselves, as his friends, had rather assisted 
than restrained the power of his youthful passions, 
and the temptations which surrounded a person of his 
age and station. Things began to go very badly. The 
King relapsed into a state of open immorality, and on 
his own authority revoked all the penalties on crimes 
affixed by law, except those on murder, theft, and 
adultery. He issued a proclamation declaring that all 
authority resided in himself, and that he possessed the 
arbitrary power of life and death. It is disheartening 
to read of the state of society which soon followed this 
unhappy change. The people, galled with too severe 
a curb on their habits and inclinations, broke loose in 



A BRIEF REIGN OF TERROR. ijSl 

debauchery and every sort of vice. Moral anarchy 
prevailed not only in Honolulu, but throughout the 
group. Schools were deserted, the teachers themselves 
falling away ; buildings for worship were burned, and 
some lives were lost in the violence and confusion which 
prevailed. The dark habits of heathenism sprang up 
again, like the heads of Medusa, and, in one district at 
least of Hawaii, idolatrous worship was once more per- 
formed. If we may give all credence to accounts which 
come to us through the missionary party, the islands 
must for a time have been a pandemonium. During 
the height of this misrule, Kinau, the premier, with 
all her determination and strictness of principle, had 
no controlling power ; nay, was obliged to keep w'l.thin 
the walls of the fort, with a few faithful attendants, to 
escape the insult and violence to her person which 
would have been offered had she ventured forth. 
Happily, the reign of terror and profligacy was not a 
long one. Such rein had been given to lust, rage, and 
drunkenness, that the subjects of passion sank down 
exhausted, sated, sick, and wearied, and a state of pro- 
stration followed the terrible excitement they had under- 
gone. So great is the power of public example, when 
the exemplar is in high place ! So true Charles Caleb 
Colton's epigrammatic expression of the fact :— 

' The paltry watch in private pocket borne 
Misleads but him alone by whom 'tis worn. 
But the town clock, which domes and towers display, 
By going wrong leads half the world astray.' 

Happily, the King had the opportunity during a long 
subsequent reign, extending to the year 1854, to atone 
for that mid Walpurgisnacht of which he had been 
the mad leader. One who knew Kamehameha III. 



232 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

long and intimately, even till his death, gives me such 
a report of him as the following : — 

If the first of the name was the one and proper man for his 
epoch, the third Kamehameha was equally fitted for the time 
on which he feU. He had private moral faults and irregulari- 
ties over which, as they affected but little his public conduct, 
we may well throw the veil of silence ; and then we have a 
king who, if any ever deserved the name of the father of his 
people, was worthy of that honoured title. To him king-craft 
came intuitively. Penetrating, patient, conciliatory, he knew 
how to measure and to gain men. Many times, placed in cir- 
cumstances of extreme danger and perplexity, he steered the 
barque of the state out of them with all the caution and devo- 
tion of a pilot. It is no hyperbole to say of him that he was 
ready to sacrifice himself to the public weal, because he actu- 
ally did so, both on public and great emergencies, and in a 
long course of watching and self-restraint. He denuded him- 
self of privileges and prerogatives that he might clothe his 
people with them. He freely gave up to that people his time, 
his care, his income, and his territory. 

The first turning-point with the young King, indi- 
cating a coming restoration, was the circumstance of 
his confirming Kinau the premier, his half-sister, in 
her office. The party in favour of disorder, and which 
it is disagreeable to add included Mr. Charlton the 
English consul, were desirous of having the princess 
displaced. She had remonstrated earnestly with her 
brother, and was incessant in her affectionate endeavours 
to reclaim him from the disastrous course he had 
adopted. Her influence triumphed; and the effect 
upon the community when the confirmation of Kinau's 
power was known is described as being electrical. The 
crisis was over; but Kamehameha oscillated, like all 
bodies acted on by opposite forces : the storm was past. 



ADVANCE IN MORAL CONDITION. 2.33 

but the heavy sea had not yet found the hydrostatic 
level. Sometimes he broke out into open habits of 
licentiousness ; at other times he was found respectful 
and attentive in the house of prayer. The triumph of 
wholesome counsels was marked in 1834, by the King 
sanctioning the former laws, and placing restrictions on 
the sale of spirits ; so that while the licences produced 
a revenue to the government, the evils arising from 
excessive use of liquors were kept greatly in check. 

This year Captain Seymour, in H.B.M.'s frigate 
' Challenger,' arrived at the islands. His was a visit of 
retribution. A year or more previously, an English 
schooner was seized by part of her crew, who murdered 
her master and scuttled the vessel at an uninhabited 
island near the equator. The mutineers subsequently 
found their way to Honolulu in a whaler. Of course 
the Hawaiian government had no right to inflict capital 
punishment on English subjects for crimes reported 
to have been committed on the high seas ; but it seems 
to have been indiscreet, after hearing the acknowledg- 
ment of their guilt, to have harboured them and treated 
them as it would have done honest men. Captain Sey- 
mour demanded their execution, and the pirates were 
hanged. 

Advance was now again made in the morality and 
religion of the people. The worst features of the old 
heathenism were disappearing. Much had been done 
by the missionaries and their organization to raise the 
standard of morals and to impart the Christian faith to 
natives, who only fifteen years before had existed in 
the heavy bondage of idolatry. That] the advance was 
often forced, often more in appearance than real, must 
not be doubted. Outward conformity is more easy to 
secure than inward regeneration. Simulation was a 



234 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

characteristic of the Hawaiian nation. Yet the mission- 
aries felt their triumph, and could cry with some reality, 
as they pointed to the people decently clothed, gathering 
in chapels, thronging to schools, applying themselves to 
laborious trades, using Christian prayers and singing 
Christian hymns, — ' What hath God wrought ! ' 

The rumour of what was effected reached the religious 
world in America and Grreat Britain, and created a 
great sensation. Letters from zealous men detailing 
the power and triumphs of the Cross are usually san- 
guine. Circumstances told with the best faith seem, 
on reading them, almost like miracles, whether in re- 
ports to a Central Board of Missions, or in Lettres 
Edifiantes to the Jesuit College. The transactions are 
far away, nobody contradicts them ; it coincides with 
our own hopes and our own desires that success should 
attend the ministry of those whom we sent forth with a 
hearty * Grod Speed.' 

In the year 1836 the American missionaries became 
more intimately and more openly connected with the 
Hawaiian government. It has been a reproach used 
towards them that some of the number who went forth 
to those heathen islands to save souls by their teaching 
and preaching, remained there to put away their mis- 
sionary character and assume the part of amateur 
statesmen, much occupied thereafter in secular matters, 
and not altogether foregoing such secular honours as 
their connection with that small state could bestow. 
The missionaries have considered it necessary to reply 
to this reproach, and to justify the course they took. 
The substance of their apology is, that a necessity lay 
upon them to act as they did ; that an opportunity 
presented itself of gently guiding the ruling powers of 
Hawaii to construct a government upon enlightened 



APOLOGY OF THE MISSIONARIES. 235 

principles, of wliich the Christian religion should be the 
directing star, and which should be free from foreign 
influence ; that this was the wish of the chiefs, who in 
their darkness and incompetency to build on a model 
they had never seen, endeavoured to procure the need- 
ful assistance where it was to be found ; that to this 
end they sent one of tlie missionary establishment, Mr. 
Eichards, to the United States with an invitation to 
some public man to come to the aid of the Hawaiian 
kingdom ; one w^ho could assist and advise in founding 
a new constitution and in making new laws ; that Mr. 
Eichards failed in the endeavour, and could not per- 
suade any ' right man ' that by going to the centre of 
the Pacific he should be in the ' right place,' as far as 
his own prospects in life were concerned : and that in 
consequence of this failure there was no other alterna- 
tive than that the missionaries should detach some 
from their own ranks to be associated wdth the chiefs 
in guiding, henceforward, the vessel of the state. They 
say that the chiefs were at the time in an embarrassed 
position with regard to foreign and internal affairs, 
greatly needing immediate counsel; and that they made 
the choice of those among their religious instructors 
whom they considered most fit to walk the stage in 
their new part, and to teach the science of political 
economy. 

And because public bodies, religious or commercial, 
can never act except upon ' Eesolutions,' the mission 
drew up, in 1838, a series of eight resolutions explan- 
atory of their conduct, and adumbrating a scheme of 
government, or rather of the political ethics which were 
to be the basis of government. That the resolutions 
were entered on the Minutes some time after the prin- 
ciples were in operation, is not perhaps of importance 



236 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

to notice, and is in accordance with the proceedings of 
many other public bodies. 

The missionaries had probably felt more fear than 
the King and chiefs on the subject of foreign inter- 
ference. Their own standing in the islands, and their 
plans in favour of the people whom they had taken into 
their protection, would be greatly damaged if the in- 
fluences of such nations as England or France became 
too pronounced. Indeed their fears had been heightened 
to a painful degree in the very year of Mr. Eichards' 
mission to America. 

An outrage, which seems to have been quite wanton, 
had been committed on the property of a person named 
Chapman, an English subject. His house had been 
pulled down by order of the authorities, and his pro- 
perty plundered by those employed to commit this act 
of violence. The sole cause of the proceeding appears 
to have been a determination to show to white men 
that they resided on the islands only by sufferance.* In 
the course of 1836 Lord Edward Eussell arrived in the 
'^Acteon,' on a visit of observation. Whilst there. 
Chapman's wrong was made known to his lordship, and 
he obtained reparation from the government for the 
injury. Lord Edward maintained very friendly in- 
tercourse with the King, and before leaving the islands 
he drew up a paper of Articles, which were duly signed, 
conceived in an amicable spirit, and which, whilst they 
were intended to protect English subjects against the 
recurrence of such wrongs as Chapman had received, 
involved nothing derogatory to the independence of the 
Hawaiian kingdom, and contained expressions of friend- 
ship and good-will. The Articles were three in number. 
The first permitted English subjects to come to the 

""" Simpson, Progress of Events. 



LORD EDWAKD RUSSELL's STIPULATIONS. 237 

Sandwich Islands with vessels and property ; to reside 
there ; and, with consent of the King, to build houses 
and warehouses. Such visitors and residents to conform 
to the laws of the land. This article concludes with a 
paragraph that ' good friendship shall continue between 
the subjects of both countries, Grreat Britain and the 
Sandmch Islands.' 

The second gave liberty to English subjects to leave 
the islands at their pleasure, and to dispose of their 
houses, effects, &c., giving previous notice to the King, 
and to take away the proceeds without impediment. 
It declares that the land on which the foreigners' houses 
are built remains the property of the King, and stipu- 
lates that he shall have no power to destroy the houses 
or in any way injure the property of English subjects. 

The third article relates to the effects of British sub- 
jects dying in the islands; giving immediate power 
over them to the heirs and executors, or failing these, 
to the consul or his agent. It also provides for the 
collection of debts due in the islands to a deceased 
English subject. 

The stipulations contained in these three articles 
appear reasonable, and their demands most moderate ; 
but they awoke the fears and jealousy of the mission - 
arized government, and the King was induced to make 
a vehement protest against them. The protest was 
contained in a letter addressed to King WilHam IV., 
and was signed by Kamehameha III. and Kinau, who 
assumed the official name of Kaahumanu II. It states 
that signature to the articles had been obtained by the 
urgency of the commander of a ship of war and the 
English consul, who threatened that the vessel would 
open fire upon the town in case of refusal. It concludes 
by stating that the King, under these circumstances, 



238 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

had given his assent to the stipulations, but not his real 
approbation. 

Another trouble was impending over the vexed Archi- 
pelago, arising in a different quarter. A retribution 
was preparing for the expulsion of the Roman Catholic 
priests by the government. Eeligion had received a 
wrong, and France felt that wrong keenly, and resolved 
to punish it severely. In order to forward the reign of 
peace, France sometimes finds it necessary to break 
through the laws of nations, and to employ heavy 

artillery. 

In September another priest, named Walsh, arrived 
in the islands. As soon as his profession became known 
he was required to leave ; but he eventually received 
permission to remain until the arrival of the ' Acteon,' 
which was daily expected. Shortly afterwards it was 
notified to him again that he would not be allowed to 
reside permanently. Previous to the arrival of Lord 
Edward Russell, the French sloop-of-war ^Bonite' 
touched at the islands; Walsh immediately appealed 
to her commander, Captain Yaillant, and as the English 
consul united in the request that the priest might be 
allowed to remain, on the ground that Walsh was an 
English subject and that his profession did not deprive 
him of his natural rights, permission was granted, 
with the proviso that he was not to attempt to pro- 
pagate his religion. 

In the meantime, Bachelot and Short had received in 
California a papal brief, exhorting them to persevere 
in their attempt to establish themselves at Oahu. They 
were also in correspondence with Mr. Charlton the 
English consul, and they were led to believe that the 
way was sufficiently prepared for their returning safely 
to the Hawaiian Islands. Walsh had violated his pro- 



EXCUSE FOR THE PEIESTS. 239 

mise of not propagating the Romish religion ; but he 
was forbidden to open the chapel, and was again re- 
quested to leave. The names of the priests necessarily 
appear in a prominent position, as if they were the chief 
oflfenders. We must, however, be tender in our judg- 
ment of persons who were earnest in their endeavours to 
carry forth what they believed to be the true Christian 
doctrine; who were good and self-denying men; but 
who were so bound by vows of obedience to what they 
considered an authority over-riding all other authorities, 
that the violation of engagements and even of truth 
is almost more chargeable to the system which bound 
them than upon their own consciences. We cannot 
for a moment praise or defend conduct wherein truth 
is sacrificed to expediency, or even, if it were not blas- 
phemous to say it, to religion ; but the priests of the 
Roman Church look upon their allegiance as invio- 
lable, and as excusing some acts which the clergy of 
other churches would disdain and detest. They are in 
the position of privates in an army. When the latter 
take away the lives of men standing opposite to their 
ranks, men against whom they have no personal quarrel 
and whom they have never seen before, they look upon 
themselves as instruments only, scarcely more account- 
able for the bloodshed than their rifles are. The re- 
sponsibility of life remains mth the superior authority ; 
their own judgment seems taken away, and the voice of 
conscience to be suspended. All other violence, robbery, 
and wrong, follow in the same category. It is war,— 
and they are soldiers sworn to the articles of war ;— 
they have no choice. We state, but cannot defend the 
position. At the great day, this scheme of human ethics 
may hang in filthy rags upon its subjects, and every 
man must be judged according to his deeds. In the 



.240 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

meantime it may explain, even while it does not ex- 
cuse, many wrong actions in thouglitful and pious men, 
who place themselves under a headship which allows no 
questioning. 

In April 1837 the two priests ventured to return 
from California. They were conveyed in a vessel 
hoisting English colours, owned by a Frenchman named 
Jules Dudoit, who claimed to be an English subject. 
The questions of naturalization and domicil are too full 
of intricacies to permit a decision as to which nation 
Dudoit actually owed allegiance. The priests were 
landed surreptitiously, without notice to the authorities. 
On their arrival becoming known to Kekuanaoa, the 
Grovernor of Oahu, he wrote them a distinct demand 
that they shoald withdraw from the islands, and re- 
minded them of their own statement that they only 
intended to stay on the islands until they could obtain 
a vessel to carry them thence. A despatch was then 
sent to the King, who was absent at the time at Maui. 
His Majesty issued a proclamation a few days after- 
wards, of which the following is a copy : — 

PROCLAMATION. 

Ye strangers from all foreign lands who are in my dominions, 
both residents and those recently arrived, I make known my 
word to you aU, that you may understand my orders. 

The Men of France"^ whom Kaahumanu banished are under 
the same unaltered order up to this period. The rejection of 
these men is perpetual, confirmed by me at the present time. 
I win not assent to their remaining in my dominions. 

These are my orders to them, that they go back immediately 
on board the vessel on which they have come; that they stay on 
board her till that vessel on board which they came sails, that 
is to me clearly right, but their abiding here I do not wish. 

* Meaning the priests. 



DEPORTATION OF THE PRIESTS. 241 

I have no desire that the service of the missionaries who 
follow the Pope should be performed in my kingdom, not at 
all. 

Wherefore, all who shall be encouraging the Papal mission- 
aries I shall regard as enemies to me, to my counsellors, to my 
chiefs, to my people, and to my kingdom. 

EIamehameha III. 

Unquestionably the hand of Mr. Bingham and his 
coadjutors may be traced in the above production, 
which, though couched in almost child-like language, is 
peremptory enough, and so clear that they should have 
run who read it, for that was its intention. The priests, 
however, absolutely refused to return on board the 
' Clementine,' and that vessel was made ready for an- 
other voyage ; but the government was absolute, and 
determined to put them on board. Officers were sent 
to execute this intention. Bachelot enquired whether 
violence would be used towards them, and the 
English consul, who it may be said here, seems to 
have had the faculty of acting in the most injudicious 
manner conceivable upon every occasion, took part 
against the officers, threatened them that the ' Clemen- 
tine ' was under tabu, and that any one approaching 
her would be shot ; and finally, by inducing them to 
touch the priests as they were embarking, made out a 
case of constructive violence, which was protested against 
in solemn form before himself. M. Dudoit would not 
have been a Frenchman in heart if he had let the 
occasion pass without a little melodramatic action ; so 

he hauled down his flag, — they were English colours, 

and carried it on shore to Mr. Charlton the consul, who 
publicly burnt it to protect it from dishonour ! Never 
before had been seen the parts of Virginius and Virginia 
performed by an English consul and a Union Jack. 

R 



242 ' HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

To complete the transaction, Dudoit protested that the 
Hawaiian government had seized his vessel, and he 
claimed damages therefore. 

From the coloured statements of this affair, which 
were sent to Europe and to America, it was believed 
that a dreadful persecution of Eoman Catholic Chris- 
tians was raging in the Sandwich Islands. On the 7th 
of July the ' Sulphur ' surveying-sloop, commanded by 
Captain, afterwards Sir Edward, Belcher, arrived at 
Honolulu ; and three days later appeared there Captain, 
afterwards Admiral, Du Petit Thenars, in the French 
frio-ate ' La Venus.' The two commanders demanded the 
instant liberation of the priests, who remained on board 
the ' Clementine.' As this was not complied with, a 
body of marines were sent to the vessel and escorted the 
priests to shore, where the two commanders reinstated 
them in their former residence. The King was sent for, 
and on his arrival an audience took place, when, after 
eight hours' discussion, it was agreed that the priests 
should remain in the islands until an opportunity for 
their leaving presented itself. Captain Thenars on 
behalf of M. Bachelot, and Captain Belcher on the part 
of Mr. Short, wrote a formal undertaking that the 
priests should take their departure on the first favour- 
able occasion, and, until that occurred, should desist 
from preaching. 

Before the ships of war left the islands two other 
documents were signed. The first, dated July 23rd, 
1837, was a consent by the King to a certain interpre- 
tation of the first of the articles agreed upon with Lord 
Edward Kussell. It related to the permission granted 
to English subjects to come to and settle in the islands, 
and it reads rather as an enlargement or variation of 
the article. ' In the event of finding it necessary to 



THE FIRST FEENCH TEEATT. 243 

exert the power of refusal to admit a subject of Great 
Britain, we will grant a fair trial, and give satisfactory 
reasons for our act, of which due notice shall be given 
to the Consul of His Majestj the King of Great 
Britain.' 

The other document contains the germ of the French 
treaty. Its brevity is admirable ; but the doctrine of 
development as in our own times- caused the small seed 
to assume the proportions of a tree with many branches. 

It runs thus : — 

Honolulu, Sandwich Isles, July 24, 1837. 

There shall be perpetual peace and amity between the 
French and the inhabitants of the Sandwich Isles. 

The French shaU go and come freely in all the states 
which compose the government of the Sandwich Isles. 

They shaU be received and protected there, and shall 
enjoy the same advantages which the subjects of the most 
favoured nations enjoy. 

Subjects of the King of the Sandwich Isles shall equally 
come into France, and shall be received and protected there 
,as the most favoured foreigners. 

(Signed) Kamehameha III. 

A. Du Petit Thouars, 
Capt. Commander of the French 
frigate ' La Venus.' 

Ere he sailed. Captain Thouars appointed M. Dudoit 
to act provisionally as consul for France. The Hawaiian 
government made strong objections to receiving his 
nominee in this capacity ; but the French commander 
was peremptory, and Venus had shown herself to be 
Mars in disguise ; and so the appointment wa^s settled. 



R2 



244 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH — THE FIRST FRENCH TRIBULATION. 

THERE are certain places in a narrative where, al- 
though the stream flows on without natural 
hiatus, the historian seems entitled to stop for a couple 
of minutes to take breath and to knib his pen. These 
nodal points determine the length of his chapters. The 
chapter which we now commence is, unfortunately, like 
a new scene in a French play where the persons are 
' les memes.^ 

'La Venus' sailed away: her commander's destiny 
being to enter into complications at Tahiti, — islands 
lying forty degrees south of Hawaii. A few months 
after Captain Du Petit Thouars's departure, another 
priest, from Valparaiso, presented himself at the Sand- 
wich Islands, but was not permitted to land. 

The attention of France was now called to VOceanie, 
The subject of propagating the Roman Catholic religion 
in those distant islands, round which imagination, acting 
upon slight actual information, knew so well how to 
throw he^ softly-coloured halo, seized the thoughts of 
the pious and amiable queen of Louis Philippe. To 
- the King himself Du Petit Thouars had represented the 
advantages which would accrue to France from an 



FRENCH PROPAGANDISM. 245 

occupation of the islands of the Pacific. The means 
for procuring the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 
to France lay in the introduction there of the Eoman 
Catholic religion. An opportunity for an armed French 
vessel again appearing at Honolulu was soon found. 
Under Captain Belcher's guarantee that the English 
priest, Mr. Short, should withdraw as soon as possible, 
the latter gentleman sailed for Valparaiso. Scarcely 
had he left the island when the ship ' Europa ' arrived 
there, having on board M. Maigret, Pro-vicar of the 
Eoman Catholic Bishop of Nicopolis, the head of the 
newly-formed see of Oceanica. H.B.M.'s frigate ' Imo- 
gen' had arrived there just previously. On Captain 
Bruce sailing from Valparaiso, he had been applied to 
by some priests to give them a passage to Oahu. This 
he declined to do, and at the same time advised them 
not to attempt to force themselves upon that country. 
They disregarded his advice, however, and sought other 
means of finding their way to the islands. M. Dudoit, 
the French Consul pro tern,, asked Captain Bruce to in- 
duce the native government to allow the priests, whom 
]ie knew to be on their way, to land ; but the English 
commander refused to do so ; and on the government 
asking his view of the articles arranged by Captain Du 
Petit Thenars, he clearly explained their weight and 
scope, and showed them that one nation cannot force 
upon another friendly nation either its religion, its laws, 
or its language. 

The ' Europa,' with M. Maigret on board, was not 
allowed to come to anchor : and she was only permitted 
to enter the harbour on her owner giving bond in the 
sum of ^10,000 not to permit the landing of the priest. 
The government remaining firm in their resolution, 
MM. Bachelot and ]Maigret pm-chased a schooner for 



246 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the use of their mission, and on the 23rd of November 
sailed from the islands, leaving Mr. Walsh the only 
priest in the Hawaiian kingdom. A few days after 
sailing M. Bachelot died. The pause of several months 
between this event and the arrival of Captain Laplace 
in the ' Artemise ' may be properly filled up with some 
concurrent matters. 

Since the transference of the vast dominions of the 
East India Company to the Imperial crown of Grreat 
Britain, the Hudson's Bay Company is left the greatest 
territorial proprietor extant. The possessions of the 
merchant adventurers trading in Hudson's Bay and 
Eupert's Land, sweep across the continent of America 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They extend from 
corn-growing climates in the temperate zone to those 
boundless fields of arctic ice, where land is of a nominal 
value, and a fee-simple would remain invisible to its 
purchaser for the greater part of each year, but which 
have the adventitious value of being the hunting-ground 
for the fox, the beaver, the otter, and the bear, as the 
great prairies lying towards the Kocky Mountains are 
for the bison or buffalo. The adventurers to Hudson's 
Bay are essentially a trading company. Their standing 
army consists of about twelve men ; and their adopted 
motto 'Pro Pelle Cutem'' might afi'ord to a jocose 
Latinist several appropriate readings. Vancouver's 
Island was at that time one of their territories ; and as 
early as 1834, the company, still advancing towards the 
setting sun, placed a trading agent in the Sandwich 
Islands ; not with a view of obtaining furs, there being 
no ferm there, but for the purpose of selling English 
manufactures. From the islands they took salt, and to 
them imported salmon; they also took some of the 
natives, transporting them from their sunny climate to 



THE Hudson's bay company. 247 

the cold northern settlements of the Company. Some 
of the emigrants lived and became useful servants, but 
the greater number of them died in their new and in- 
hospitable home. The Company continued their agency 
there, operating with more or less success till about 
seven years ago, when they withdrew from the field, 
concentrating their commercial establishments in British 
Columbia. In the year 1841, Sir Greorge Simpson, the 
territorial governor of the Company, accompanied by 
his secretary Mr. Edward M. Hopkins, left London, and 
passing over the American continent, crossed the Eocky 
Mountains, entered California before the gold discoveries 
had made that name so familiar to European ears, and 
taking ship at Santa Barbara, proceeded to the Sand- 
wich Islands. Sir Greorge was able to render some im- 
portant services to the Hawaiian government in pecuni- 
ary and other ways. Several chapters of his agreeable 
volumes, ' An Overland Journey round the World,' are 
occupied with an account of this visit, and with obser- 
vations made there. Sir George on leaving the islands 
made his way by the north-west settlements of Eussia 
through Siberia and Eussia to Europe; and having 
made a complete circuit of the globe, reached London 
almost on the same day that his secretary arrived there 
by a homeward journey over the Eocky Mountains, 
and the lakes and prairies of North America. 

We must now return to the American missionaries. 
The Eev. W. Eichards, who formed one of their number, 
was a very kindly, well-meaning, pious, industrious 
person, without any great intellectual power, who, durin :»■ 
his twelve years' residence in the islands as a religious 
teacher, had acquired the native language very correctly, 
and was principally employed by the mission in trans- 
lating. He was selected to go to the United States on 



248 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the errand previously mentioned, which proved unsuc- 
cessful. Eeturning to the islands in 1838, after an 
absence of two years, a new line of life opened itself to 
the former humble missionary. He became the adviser 
of the sovereign — a sort of conscience to the King ; re- 
sided with him, accompanied him wherever he went, 
and acted as his interpreter, or rather as his spokesman.* 
He had put off his definite character of a minister of 
religion, to assume the task of making laws and govern- 
ing a people. Alas ! ambition sometimes dwells beneath 
unstarched white cravats and suits of black alpaca. In 
1842 Mr. Richards was accredited to the United States 
and the Courts of London and Paris as a Minister 
Plenipotentiary and Ambassador Extraordinary. 

He was not the only member of the mission who 
dropped the purely spiritual office for the secular. 
Whilst employes of the American Board of Commis- 
sioners for Foreign Missions, these teachers of religion 
were supported by the Board in a liberal manner, but 
they were expected to attend exclusively to the duty 
which had been assigned them, and they could not 
appropriate any property which might fall into their 
hands, but which was to belong to the Board itself. 
Thus, the American missionaries were comfortably pro- 
vided for against the common needs of life, and their 
children were educated by the Society ; but whilst in 
the capacity of its missionaries, they could not call house 
or furniture, land or cattle their own. A means was 
found of liberating themselves from this too parental 
tutelage, and of passing from bondage into a position 
in which they could acquire and hold money, land, and 
every sort of property. This was effected by represent- 

* See Simpson, ' Progress of Events.' 



SECULARIZING MISSIONARIES. 249 

ing to the Board that they desired to be no longer a 
burthen on the funds of the Society; that they were 
able to maintain themselves in the sphere of their 
labours. They thus partially detached themselves from 
the Board and its rigorous system, whilst they retained 
the character of missionaries. Many of their number 
are supported by the congregations among whom they 
live, by subscriptions in money, provisions, and labour. 
Some of the missionaries passed into government em- 
ploy ; and not a few of the number showed considerable 
alacrity in the search of wealth, seeking it diligently, 
and investing it in very remunerative securities. Sub- 
sequently to the time now under consideration. Dr. 
Armstrong became President of the Board of Education, 
and retained a post which he filled efficiently till his 
death, which occurred accidentally in 1861. 

Mr. Bingham, the most energetic of the first mission- 
aries, appears to have been dissatisfied with the influence 
and proceedings of Eichards, and in 1840 he retired 
to the United States. The latter found a coadjutor in 
the person of Dr. Judd, the surgeon of the mission, who 
on Mr. Bingham's departure took an active but undefined 
part in public affairs. In 1842, however, office came 
thick upon him. He was appointed a Commissioner of 
the Board of Treasury, as well as Eecorder, Interpreter, 
and Translator to the government. 

That government had continued its opposition to the 
encroachment of the Koman Catholic mission. In 1839 
all the priests were gone except Mr. Walsh, and they 
would willingly have trodden out the last sparks of 
Komanism, had they been able. Unfortunately, they 
used harsh measures to the native converts, — measures 
which, in the language of the present day, would un- 
hesitatingly be called persecuting. The Governor of 



250 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Oahu imprisoned many professed native Eoman Catho- 
lics. It does not seem that these severities are to be 
charged to the advice of the missionaries. No doubt it 
was through them, originally, that the governndent tried 
by repressive means to prevent the spread of a system 
which was opposed to that of their own teachers ; but 
according to Jarves, the missionaries placed themselves 
on the side of humanity, and prevented, wherever they 
could, intolerant punishments and captivity. So much 
did their remonstrances work on the King, that in June 
1839 he issued orders that no more punishments should 
be inflicted, and that all native Eoman converts should 
be liberated from confinement. The stigma of perse- 
cution had, however, fastened itself upon the Hawaiian 
government; and a rod was in preparation which its 
public abrogation was not to turn aside. 

On the 10th of July, 1839, the French frigate ^ Arte- 
mise,' Captain C. Laplace, arrived off Honolulu. Its 
commander immediately sent to the King a letter or 
manifesto, in which the indulgence and long-suffering 
of France were pointed out; the enormities of the 
Hawaiian government towards French subjects — their 
' victims '—^ were portrayed; and most undisguised 
threats were held out to a nation ' misled by perfidious 
counsellors.' The government was accused of violating 
treaties ; and was informed that to ' tarnish the Eoman 
Catholic religion with the name of idolatry, and to 
expel it under this absurd pretext, was to offer an insult 
to France and its sovereign.' What embittered the 
sting planted in Captain Laplace's heart was that, whilst 
the French were suffering ' the most cruel persecution, 
Protestants enjoyed the most extensive privileges.' 

Five conditions followed these prolegomena. They 
were — 



CAPTAIN Laplace's five conditions. 251 

First That the (Roman) Catholic worship be declared 
free throughout all the dominions subject to the King 
of the Sandwich Islands; that the members of this 
religious faith shall enjoy in them all the privileges 
granted to Protestants. 

Second. That a site for a (Roman) Catholic church be 
given bj the government of Honolulu, a port frequented 
by the French, and that the church be ministered by 
priests of their nation. 

Third. That all (Roman) Catholics imprisoned on 
account of religion since the last persecutions extended 
to the French missionaries be immediately set at liberty. 

Fourth. That the King of the Sandwich Islands 
deposit in the hands of the Captain of the ' Artemise ' 
the sum of ^^20,000 as a guarantee of his future conduct 
towards France ; which sum the government will restore 
to him when it shall consider that the accompanying 
treaty will be faithfully complied with. 

Fifth. That the treaty signed by the King of the 
Sandwich Islands, as well as the sum above mentioned, 
be conveyed on board the frigate ' Artemise ' by one of 
the principal chiefs of the country ; and also that the 
batteries of Honolulu do salute the French flag with 
twenty-one guns, which shall be returned by the 
frigate. 

This peremptory document concluded by stating that 
the foregoing equitable conditions were the price at 
which the friendship of France was to be preserved. 
The King and his chiefs had their free choice to accept 
or reject them; only with this proviso, that if they re- 
fused, Captain Laplace would ' immediately commence 
war, with all the devastations and all the calamities 
which would be its unhappy but necessary results.' It 
was signed on the 10th,— 9th, of July 1839. 



252 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Together with the manifesto, a letter was sent on 
shore to the French Consul, intimating that in case of 
the conditions being refused, hostilities would commence 
at noon of the 13th, — 12th, instant, and offering under 
such eventualities, asylum on board the frigate to all 
compatriots apprehending danger. A similar communi- 
cation was forwarded to the American Consul ; but to 
the latter was added a clause that the offer of asylum 
did not extend ' to those individuals born in the United 
States, who form part of the Protestant clergy of the 
chief of this archipelago, direct his councils, influence 
his conduct, and are the true authors of the insults given 
by him to France. For me, they compose a part of 
the native population, and must undergo the unhappy 
consequences of a war which they shall have brought on 
this country.' 

Poor Mr. Eichards and his brethren felt this very 
invidious and personal exclusion in its full force ; par- 
ticularly as Captain Laplace, in the greatness of his zeal 
for religion, threw out, in addition, that if one man of his 
vessel should be injured, his was to be a war of ex- 
termination. So tender is the commander of a French 
frigate over the seamen of the navy who compose liis 
little flock. 

The harbour of Honolulu was declared under block- 
ade. The King was absent ; and as he could not return 
within the three days of respite, a further delay of two 
days was granted by Captain Laplace before com- 
mencing hostilities. These days were filled up with 
animated discussions, with fears, with rumours of the 
extraordinary distance French guns would carry ; also 
with very good arrangements made by the native 
authorities for preserving order in the town. There was 
some talk, too, of resistance. Even the English Consul, 



THE FORCIBLE ARGUMENTS OF ARTILLERY. 253 

who arrived whilst matters were progressing, was not 
pleased at the prospect of French domination. He 
had never wished well to the natives, it is true, but he 
wished ill to those who were now threatening them. 

The King did not come. The missionaries grew 
more and more alarmed. There were their wives and 
their numerous and tender families. No doubt, they 
stood in a very compromised position, and had real 
grounds for fear. The net result of all these circum- 
stances was, that counsels of fear prevailed ; the Grover- 
nor of Oahu together with the Premier signed the treaty 
in the absence of the King, and the material guarantee 
of ^20,000, got together with great difficulty, was taken 
on board the frigate. Then the salutes were duly fired ; 
and when all was finished, the King arrived. The 
business happened to be transacted on a Sunday ; and 
when it was accomplished, Captain Laplace went on 
shore, and under an escort of 200 seamen with fixed 
bayonets celebrated a military mass in a straw palace 
belonoino' to the Kino^. So the thunders of the ' Arte- 
mise ' did not wake to avenge the departure of a French 
priest, who was formally pledged to leave the islands ; 
and the blood of natives and missionaries did not 
mino^le in a massacre of extermination, which was to 
have been the condign punishment for the imprison- 
ment of some native converts. 

Yet Captain Laplace's mission was not complete. 
There was an arriere jpensee. The admission henceforth 
of French bishops was in some manner to be coincident 
with the admission of French brandy. A close connec- 
tion of these two products of France became established; 
and if the historian is obliged to mention, in the same 
breath, the duties of the one with the duties upon the 
other, it is done not with any desire to mingle the^ 



254 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

spiritual with tlie spirituous, but because of an actual 
nexus which we cannot dissolve. So identical did these 
two interests become, that the same native name, palani 
or farani, was applied to brandy and Frenchmen. 

To check intemperance, the council had induced the 
King the previous year to prohibit the introduction of 
ardent spirits, and to lay a heavy duty on wines. The 
act seems to have been generally approved, except by 
those who drank deeply, or made their profits by selling 
these commodities. Another treaty was drawn up by the 
French commander: but the King objected to some of its 
provisions, one of which limited the duties on imports 
to a maximum of five per cent. Again a little gentle 
pressure had to be applied. The treaty was brought to 
the King at 5 p.m. one afternoon, and he was required 
to sign it by breakfast the next morning. The word 
'extermination' was not indeed openly used, but rumours 
were set afloat in the neighbourhood of the King, that 
the ' Artemise ' would be followed, by a larger force, and 
that the islands might possibly be transferred to another 
power. The treaty was of course signed, and the 
' Artemise ' sailed from Honolulu. 

Soon afterwards the ^ Clementine ' arrived from Val- 
paraiso, bringing passengers, the Bishop of Nicopolis, 
M. Maigret, and two other priests. Eoman Catholicism 
had now gained a secure footing in the islands; and 
though no chief of importance joined its ranks, a consi- 
derable number of the inferior natives became proselytes 
to its creed. A large stone church was commenced in 
Honolulu for the service of the Roman Catholics. 

In taking leave of this part of the subject, a sad 
event has to be recorded, which enlists our sympathies 
and overlooks denominations. The Bishop returned to 
France to procure the instruments and ornaments re- 



' ONE TOUCH OF NATURE MAKES THE WHOLE WOELD KIN.' 255 



1 



quired for the rites of his religion. On his way back 
to Hawaii, with a company of nuns and other persons 
who had joined the mission, and bringing with him the 
ecclesiastical furniture and a cargo of goods for their 
enlarged establishment, the vessel foundered at sea and 
all on board perished. 

The divisions among Christians are great ; the bond 
of a common humanity is still greater. Over the grave 
of fellow-men who perished in the zealous pursuit of 
duty, our tears may mingle together without distinction 
and without reproach. 

A pause of two years now occurs in the tribulation. 
During that time no French Admiral's pennon or Cap- 
tain's flag fluttered before the city of Honolulu. There 
were grudges and complaints between the two sects 
which divided the population; and among the lower 
orders, there were occasional collisions between the 
Protestants and the Roman Catholics. The latter would 
not contribute their quota towards the public schools, 
and this naturally gave dissatisfaction ^o the govern- 
ment party, which was greatly the most numerous. 
The French fleet was pursuing its destiny in southern 
latitudes. In the summer of 1842 news was received 
of a French occupation of the Marquesan group, the 
rocky and picturesque islands which shelter 'the 
beauties of the Pacific' It was not reassuring to the 
natives of Hawaii to see in August of the same year the 
' Embuscade ' corvette enter the harbour of Honolulu, 
and come to her moorings without the customary salute. 
The premonitory frown was quickly followed by the 
rebuke. Captain Mallet commanding the corvette, placed 
himself immediately in communication with the priests ; 
and on the 1st of September he sent to the King one of 
those very decided documents made up of reprimands 



256 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

• 

and requisitions to which the Hawaiians were becoming 
accustomed. It complained of insults heaped upon 
ministers of religion; of quiet congregations menaced by 
subaltern authorities ; of converts driven to hear Pro- 
testant sermons and to attend Protestant schools ; of 
churches overthrown, and of treaties torn. Never have 
any people been so persecuted as the French. 

Then followed six remedies, which the patient was to 
take immediately. They stipulated that a (Roman) 
Catholic high school should be recognized, enjoying 
all the privileges of the seminary at Lahainaluna, and 
that the government was to make a concession of land 
ad hoc. That the Eoman Catholic schools should be 
exclusively under the intendance of inspectors profes- 
sing that faith ; and a provision made for supplying a 
kahukula, or inspector, in certain cases. That permis- 
sion to marry be given to Roman Catholics nominated 
by the kahunas of priests. That Roman Catholics 
should not in future be forced to labour on schools or 
churches of a different worship ; and that the parents 
of children that have embraced the Roman Catholic 
religion should not be ill-treated on that account. That 
no individual, whatever be his rank or position, be 
permitted to destroy a church or school, or insult a 
minister of the Roman Catholic religion without being 
severely punished. 

The above demands were numbered categorically, 
and they were followed by a few more without numera- 
tion, but of considerable importance. By these the 
King was desired to confirm a grant of land made by 
the chief Boki to the Roman Catholic mission, and to 
legalize a purchase of land made by the Bishop of 
Mcopolis. His Majesty was to undertake a more deli- 
cate task. He was required to produce a proof that the 



FRENCH WRONGS AND FRENCH REMEDIES. 257 

Abbe Maigret had signed a writing by which he acknow- 
ledged himself to be a British subject, to the great 
scandal of the French mission ; or, if the report was a 
mere calumny invented to ruin a priest in the eyes of 
the inhabitants of the islands, then the King should 
cause the author of it, John li, Inspector-General, to 
sign a declaration that he had lied about the matter, or 
that he had been deceived therein. 

Then, as the document would not have been complete 
or consistent without something about wine and spirits, 
Captain Mallet demands explanations about the sixth 
article of the treaty of the 17th July; and asks, with a 
certain naivete, whether the King's limitation of the 
sale of brandy to a certain number of gallons, was not 
' for the purpose of eluding this article of the treaty, — 
not to say violating it.' Captain Mallet admits that he 
cannot prevent the King from making judicious laws for 
the welfare and prosperity of his people, only he would 
be glad to receive information on this particular enact- 
ment, so that he might report on it to the Admiral com- 
manding in chief the French forces in L'Oceanie, who 
would decide on the course most proper to be taken 
for the maintenance of treaties and of the national 
dignity.' 

The King returned an answer which Mr. Jarves very 
properly describes as courteous and dignified. It touches 
on all the points contained in the French commander's 
letter, giving such general replies as would not compro- 
mise the laws of the land. The question about brandy 
and wines is easily disposed of, as being a mere affair of 
licences, which are obtainable from the proper officers. 
As to John li, who was absent from Oahu at the time, an 
examination should be held about the report he liad 
circulated, and, if necessary, a trial should be granted. 

s 



2&5 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

The King concludes by desiring Captain Mallet to in- 
form the Admiral that he had despatched ministers to 
the King of the French to beg that a new treaty might 
be negotiated. 

This answer, signed by Kamehameha III. and the 
Premier Kekanluohi, though conveying the sentiments 
of the King, was, without doubt, drawn up by the ad- 
visers he had about him ; and the performance is ex- 
ceedingly creditable. It also answered its end : — it 
satisfied Captain Mallet, who sailed from the islands. 
Soon after the ' Embus cade's ' departure, news arrived 
of the establishment of a French protectorate over 
Tahiti, Society Islands. An alarm occasioned by French 
encroachment was probably not lessened in the ^country 
party' among the Hawaiians by the annexation of 
California by the United States, which event occurred 
about the same time. 



259 




CHAPTER XVir. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH ESSAYS IN CONSTITUTION-MAKING. 

UP to the year 1838 the government of the Hawaiian 
Islands was a despotism. The King's power was 
absolute ; and, as is usually the case with absolutisms, 
his chiefs in their separate spheres were smaller despots. 
It depended on the prowess and personal character of 
the Monarch to control his chiefs and really be their 
king, or to maintain only a nominal headship over them, 
and to be simply a chief among chiefs. Of defined 
laws it can scarcely be said that there were any. Some 
common prescriptive ones must have existed, for they 
are found in every human society. Such are rather to 
be called natural and instinctive laws; and without 
them men would dwell together as wild beasts. From 
time to time the King and chiefs put forth changeable 
decrees ; and the oppressive system of tabu made itself 
felt as an immemorial and inevitable condition of Hfe. 
Usage was almost the only system. 

The American missionaries and ex-missionaries, the 
latter being those who had ceased upon their own request 
to be subsidized by the Boston Board of Missions, had ob- 
tained a considerable influence over Kamehameha III. ; 
and they began to exert it in endeavouring to obtain 

S 2 



260 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the King's consent to govern the nation constitu- 
tionally. The endeavour was bold and humane. It 
is said that the King felt great repugnance, and 
made some resistance, at parting with the absolute 
unquestioned power which had always been the right of 
kings of Hawaii. The missionaries, however, gained 
their point, and a sketch of a Constitution, occupying a 
sheet or two of foolscap paper, was produced. The first 
notion of the Exhibition Palace in Hyde Park of 1851 
was scribbled by Sir Joseph Paxton on a piece of 
blotting-paper. 

Whoever might have been th6 first investigator of 
this essential departure from an ancient despotism, 
Mr, Eichards, who has been previously mentioned, took 
a leading part, afterwards, in constructing the constitu- 
tional edifice. 

On the 7th of June, 1839, the King signed a Bill of 
Eights ; and on the 8th of October, 1840, he voluntarily 
conferred on the people a constitution which recogTiized 
the three grand divisions of a civilized monarchy, — 
king, legislature, and judges, and defined in some 
respects the general duties of each.* 

It is worthy of remark that the missionaries, who 
were Americans, who had lived under and perhaps loved 
republican institutions, never went so far as to attempt 
to introduce a republic in the Hawaiian Islands. Such 
an idea they knew to be preposterous ; and they were 
wise enough to aim at what might be within reach; to 
introduce beneficial changes, and reconcile the King to 
a system for which models had to be sought among the 
old dominions of Europe. Their eyes, however, travelled 
farther than mere earthly types, and, consistently with 

* Preface to the Statute Laws of the Hawaiian Islands, 1845, 1846. 



A THEOCEATIC CONSTITUTION. 261 

tlieir former profession as teachers of religion, they in- 
troduced into their scheme the theocratic element. In 
the preamble of 'The Constitution of the Hawaiian 
Islands,' borrowed partly from Scripture and partly from 
the American Declaration of Independence,* they start 
with the assertion that ' God hath made of one blood 
all nations of men to dwell on the earth in unity and 
blessedness. God has bestowed certain rights alike on 
all men, and all chiefs, and all people of all lands.' 
We are not to be surprised at religious language in- 
troduced into a state paper, when the document is 
drawn up by a preacher. Possibly a sermon written by 
a Secretary of State might be conspicuous for its 
reticence concerning the spiritual. 

The Constitution was dated October 1840. It pro- 
vides that no law shall be enacted in the Hawaiian 
kingdom which is at variance with the word of the Lord 
Jehovah, or with the general spirit of His Word. All 
laws of the island shall be in consistency with the general 
spirit of God's Word. It proceeds to enunciate a feudal 
system as regards land-possession. 'Kamehameha I. 
was the founder of the kingdom ; and to him belonged 
all the land from one end of the islands to the other, 
though it was not his private property. It belonged to 
the chiefs and people in common, of whom Kamehameha 
was the head, and had the management of the landed 
property. Wherefore, there was not formerly, and is 
not now, any person who could or can convey away th(i 
smallest portion of land without the consent of the on(i 
who had or has the direction of the kingdom.' 

There was a good deal of misstatement in these 
propositions, for the common people had little or no 

* A. Simpson, ' Progress of Events.' 



262 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

land as their own property ; and, on tlie other hand, 
Kamehameha had, individually, large possessions. 

In the small volume of 200 pages duodecimo, which 
contains the English version of the Constitution and 
laws of 1840, the translator remarks — 

The laws as they now appear are most of them of quite 
recent date. Some of them were enacted as far back as 1833, 
and others had their origin as early as 1823, But all the 
laws which were enacted previous to the former period, and 
some of a later period, have undergone such modifications and 
changes that they now appear with a date much later than the 
original. 

At these islands, as well as in more civilized countries, 
there is something like a system of common law, independent 
of special statutes. It consists partly in their ancient taboos, 
and partly in the practices of the celebrated chiefs as the his- 
tory of them has been handed down by tradition, and at the 
present time the principles of the Bible are fully adopted. 

The Constitution was to consist of the King ; a House 
of Nobles, containing sixteen persons, of whom five 
were females ; and a faint adumbration of the repre- 
sentative vsystem, in seven individuals who were to be 
chosen, and would sit in council with the nobles. The 
manner of choosing the representatives was not very 
carefully defined. 

At first, then, the nobles and representatives assem- 
bled in one chamber, together with the King, who acted 
as a kind of president. Subsequently the branches of 
legislature occupied separate apartments. At the be- 
ginning, the sessions of parliament were yearly ; under 
the present system they are biennial. 

' The Constitution ' proceeds to organic laws. Per- 
haps, in examining these, they may appear to adhere 
more closely to the letter than to the spirit of God's 



SEVERITY OF THE NEW LAWS. 263 

laws under the Mosaic dispensation. Mr. Simpson 
pronounces them to be the Blue Laws of Connecticut, 
with the addition of powers conferred on officers, to 
practise extortion and tyranny, not even possessed by a 
Turkish pasha. The code of laws regulates taxation ; 
gratuitous labour of the people for the government; 
rent of land. It enacts curious regulations for the sup- 
pression of idleness and unchastity. If a man were 
found 'sitting idle, or doing nothing' on one of the 
days when he was free from government labour, even 
then, an officer might set him at work for the govern- 
ment till the evening. Thus, like the boy at school who 
was doing nothing, he was effectually taught not to do 
it again. But the inventive genius of the new lawgivers 
expatiated most ardently in regulations relating to the 
vices, crimes, and sins of unchastity. It seems as if 
they had spent days and nights in considering the sub- 
ject, and presenting it in the most new, ingenious, and 
unexpected lights. The result of their deliberations 
was a sort of network very complex and very severe, 
yet unequal in its texture, and even in parts open to 
Bion's reproach of laws, that they caught the small flies 
and allowed the great ones to break through. Suffice 
it for the present to say, that in the ' Law respecting 
Lewdness ' distinctions are drawn which are rather fine 
than nice, with heavy penalties for those who possess 
money; while disproportionately severe punishments 
were affixed to irregularities which morality condemns, 
but about which European legislation is silent, con- 
ceiving itself concerned with crimes rather than vices, 
and leaving the punishment of sin to another tribunal. 
As an instance of this disparity, in a case where the 
money fine for breaking the laws was fixed at twenty 
dollars, its equivalent was five months' imprisonment 



264 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

— an imprisonment in wliicli all the days were to be 
spent in hard labour, and all the nights passed in heavy 
manacles. 

The Declaration of Rights and the Constitution were 
led to by a series of lectures upon Political Economy 
delivered to the chiefs by Mr. Eichards. The organic 
laws, although depriving the chiefs of several of their 
old privileges and immunities, were passed by them 
unanimously, nor were they afterwards resisted ; but 
the severity and the system of espionage which they 
induced caused much dissatisfaction to the common 
people. The laws established the government of the 
islands very much as it now stands. They confirmed 
the kingdom to Kamehameha III. and his heirs. The 
King was to appoint his successor, and, failing any such 
appointment by him, then the chiefs and representatives 
had the power to appoint. It has been mentioned that, 
at first, the three branches of legislature sat in one 
chamber; but this was probably only on particular 
occasions, as the Constitution provides that the chiefs 
and representatives were to deliberate apart, and in 
certain cases confer together. It continued the office 
of Premier, and appointed four governors, under whose 
charge the eight islands were placed. 

That the laws were efficiently carried out, is proved 
by a chief having been tried for murder and hanged ; 
and to give the laws against intoxicating liquids their 
utmost force, in 1 842 the King and chiefs took a pledge 
of total abstinence. The Maine Liquor Law is one of 
those enthusiasms which do not last, and which lead to 
broken vows and to deception. The ardent spirits that 
so discountenance their namesakes have still to learn 
that moderation is the virtue set forth by the Word of 
Grod, and not total abstinence. 



A POLITICAL PLUBALIST. 265 

On Mr. Eichards leaving Oahu, in 1842, on his joint 
diplomatic mission with Haaliliho to the United States 
and Europe, Mr., or as he is more generally called Dr., 
Judd received the appointment of Eecorder ; such an 
office having been suggested by Sir Greorge Simpson. 
He also was to act as Translator and Interpreter to 
the government. In assuming these characters, Dr 
Judd dissolved his connection with the mission. His 
position was indeed more onerous than what these offices 
imply; for he became the King's Secretary of State 
for Foreign Affairs, and His Majesty's universal minister, 
and sole director of the state.* No wonder that the 
ex-physician to the mission found his labours and 
responsibilities — the blushing honours which he bore 
so thick upon him— too great for his own credit and 
the King's safety. Mr. Kicord, a native of New Jersey, 
of French extraction, bred a lawyer, and who had after- 
wards been Secretary of State to Greneral Houston in 
Texas, whilst that country remained part of the Mexican 
confederation, arrived in the Sandwich Islands in the 
beginning of 1844. At the recommendation of Dr. 
Judd, Mr. Ricord was appointed in March of that year 
to be Attorney-Greneral and the legal adviser of the 
government. He was a man well qualified for the 
office in which he was placed, and showed considerable 
talent in the codification of the laws, which he im- 
mediately set himself to effect. The King had made 
some ineffectual efforts to procure such an officer from 
England, but no lawyer from this country would give 
up his practice and hopes here, unless for a salary 
which it would have been impossible for the Hawaiian 
exchequer to afford. 

Mr. Eicord commenced his task; and on the 24th 
* ' Polynesian,' July 13, 1861. 



266 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

of June, 1845, the following joint resolution was 
passed : — 

Joint Resolution. 

Be it enacted by the Nobles ^ Representatives of the 
Hawaiian Nation^ in Legislative Council assembled, 

That having taken into consideration the review of the 
constitution made by the Attorney-General, which he read 
before us on the 21st of May, he be requested to draw out for 
us a digest of the constitution and laws, and also a project of 
the organic acts which he recommends, accommodating them to 
our condition and circumstances. 

Passed in the Council Chamber, this 24th day of June, 
1845. 

(Signed) Kamehameha. 
Keone Ana. 

By the end of the year the work was completed, the 
preface being dated 1st January, 1846. The course 
taken in the compilation of the laws is thus described 
by Mr. Kicord : — 

The compiler submitted at intervals portions of the code to 
His Majesty in Cabinet Council of his ministers, where they 
have first undergone discussion and careful amendment ; they 
have next been transferred to the Rev. William Richards for 
faithful translation into the native language ; after which, as 
from a judiciary committee, they have been reported to the 
legislative council for criticism, discussion, amendment, adop- 
tion, or rejection. The two houses have put them upon three 
several readings, debated them section by section, with pa- 
tience and critical care, altering and amending them in nume- 
rous essential respects, until finally passed in the form in which 
they now appear.* 

Thus it appears that a very commendable care was 

* Compiler's Preface. Honolulu, ] 846. 



CODIFICATION OF THE LAWS. 267 

taken both in the construction and revision of the code. 
The first publication of them is entitled 

Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III., King of 
the Hawaiian Islands ; passed by the Houses of Nobles and 
Eepresentatives during the Twenty-first year of his reign 
and the Third and Fourth years of his Public Recognition. 
A.D. 1845 and 1846, &c. Volume I. 

The compiler, in speaking of the former system of 
laws and the first constitution, says — 

Some of the most obvious points in civil and criminal 
jurisprudence have been in some measure provided for by de- 
claratory and penal ordinances, either proclaimed by the King 
before, or enacted by the legislature after the constitution was 
given. * * * * These laws and rules, though univer- 
sally promulgated at home, and somewhat extensively abroad, 
were neither well known nor understood. From detached 
fragments they were collated and translated into the English 
language in 1842 by the Rev. W. Richards; that translation 
containing 200 pages 12mo is systematized for reference into 
55 chapters, each devoted to some distinct subject of legisla- 
tion. * * * * Criminally, the old law applies to the 
most heinous offences — to open breach of public peace and 
decorum — and to wrongs towards the person and property of 
individuals. The native dialect not admitting of distinction, 
these offences are all indiscriminately called ' hewa,^ which 
word literally means * wrong.' It is, however, for the most 
part erroneously translated into the English ' crime,' regardless 
of the judicial meaning of that word; * * * * And the 
legal distinction between crimes, misdemeanors, and torts does 
not definitely exist in the old compilation, except by adopting 
the European and American measure of offences, the penalty 
annexed to them. 

Civilly, the old law likewise embraced the most usual 
rights and duties of the social relations augmentative of popu- 
lation and incitative to industry. The fundamental basis of 



268 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

landed tenures was declared, and cultivation of tlie soil, under 
a feudal tenancy not much differing from that of ancient 
Europe, was encouraged by relaxing the vassal service. The 
revenue, derived chiefly from the native population, was 
slight, and utterly insufficient to maintain the more regular 
system demanded by the increase of foreign commerce and the 
enhanced value of property ; which required something more 
of the Hawaiian courts than mere investigation of facts. 

As a scientific work the new code is deserving: of 
great praise. Mr. Ricord possessed an energetic and 
orderly mind, and treated any subject he took up ex- 
haustively. Among tlie faults of his production is the 
disproportion of the legislation to the wants of the 
people for whom it was intended. It was a frame- 
work large enough to have embraced a dozen such 
nations ; and the Hawaiians lived under its provisions 
like a family for whom a mansion has been built, but 
who had been accustomed to a cottage, and to whom to 
dvv^ell in a six-roomed house would have been the 
advance they desired. 

Mr. Ricord gives due credit to the previous labours 
of the missionaries in legislating. ' The ordinances, as 
results of missionary labour, have been greatly service- 
able in preparing the nation for what has since become 
indispensable to its political existence — a complete 
code of laws, embracing organic forms of the different 
departments, particularly executive and judicial, with 
outKnes of their daties and modes of procedure, and 
comprehensive civil and criminal digests. 

The constitution and code are contained in two acts 
of Kamehameha III., which were supported by after 
joint-resolutions of the legislative council. They bear 
date respectively the 29th of October and the 10th 
of December, 1845. The first is entitled 'An Act 



ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION. 269 

to organize the Executive Ministry of the Hawaiian 
Islands.' It enacts that five ministers shall be ap- 
pointed and regularly commissioned by the King under 
the great seal of the kingdom to conduct the several 
executive functions reposed by the constitution in His 
Majesty; of whom one shall be the Constitutional 
Premier, and the other four be removeable at all times 
and at the mere pleasure of the King, in concert with 
the Premier. 

The Premier was to be Minister of Interior Affairs : 
the other four ministers were to hold equal rank in the 
King's service, but to take precedence in the following- 
order : — 

1. The Minister of Foreign Relations. . 2. The 
Minister of Finance. 3. The Minister of Public 
Instruction. 4. The Attorney-Greneral. 

The second act is entitled 'An Act to organize the 
Executive Departments of the Hawaiian Islands.' It 
is divided into five pari«i, relating to the five ministers ; 
the parts methodically subdivided into chapters and 
articles ; and it embraces everything, from the Military 
Power, down to Exceptions to the Taxation of Cats. 
As a matter of curiosity, a few instances may be cited 
from this comprehensive legislation. For example, at 
that early day an etiquette of the strictest order was 
established. ' All orders of nobility — of etiquette and 
precedence— of rank and title— of official dress— of 
salutes — of official ceremonies and of national courtesy 
— shall be established upon definite rules by orders in 
couEcil, signed by the King and attested by the 
Premier, and duly promulgated for the information of 
the people.' The rules of precedence of the Congress 
of Vienna were adopted in all intercourse under the 
head of Foreign Relations. Provisions were made for 



270 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

tlie protection of inventions in machinery and art ; for 
the issue of patents to inventors, and copyricrht to 
literary authors. The enactment as regarded religion 
was ample and distinct. Protestantism was re-pro- 
claimed as the religion of the government, ^hut no 
connection was to subsist between the ecclesiastical and 
the body politic' The Judaic leaven relative to the 
Lord's day remained. It was named the Sabbath; all 
transactions of worldly business on that day were un- 
lawful, and it was to be a dies non in law. All docu- 
ments dated on the Sabbath were to be deemed in law 
to have no date and to be void in consequence. There 
were some exceptions added for cases of crime and 
fraud, where arrest and committal were of immediate 
necessity. 

The Minister of Public Instruction was to show no 
partiality towards one denomination of Christians to 
the prejudice of others, in conferring offices, or licences 
to teach. The laws of Kamehameha III. orally pro- 
claimed, abolishing all idol worship and ancient hea- 
thenish customs, were continued in force, with pains 
and penalties attached, in the criminal code. Congre- 
gations of fifty individuals professing the same religious 
tenets were to have permission, on petition, to erect ' a 
church or other religious conventicle,' and to receive a 
portion of land for a parsonage and for the support and 
use of the clergyman. 

The King in privy council could by proclamation 
set apart days of fasting, humiliation, and thanksgiving ; 
and such decree, when promulgated, was to be obligatory 
on all persons, provided that the days set apart had 
no sectarian tendency, or favoured one sect to the 
injury of another. It may here be remarked that, till 
the present time, the first of January has always been 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE STATUTE BOOK. 271 

proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, by public announce- 
ment ; and the people are religiously invited to recount 
on that day Grod's mercies vouchsafed to the Hawaiian 
nation during the past year. 

The laws relating to filial duties are pretty strict — 
children were to submit to correction, and not to run 
away. All those above the age of fourteen absenting 
themselves from parental control were, when caught, to 
be amenable to the labour tax and liable to impressment 
into the government service as vagrants. To encourage 
the growth of population, fathers of two children were 
in certain cases to be free from the chattel tax. Three 
children exempted from the labour tax. 

This oppressive tax was re-enacted with modifications. 
The year was divided into thirteen lunar months, and 
during the first week of the month three days' labour 
were to be performed for the government, and in the 
second week two days' labour. None was required 
during the other fortnight. 

Provision was made for a census; — the people are 
enumerated every three years. The English standards 
and divisions of weights and measures were established. 
For currency, the silver coin adopted was the American 
dollar, and a copper cent was to be coined with national 
inscriptions and the King's head. 

There was a law of Fish-tabu, distinguishing the 
several kinds; some of which, like the sturgeon in 
England, were royal fish, and were to be divided equally 
between the King and the fishermen ; with other pro- 
visions respecting piscary. 

Not to be tedious, only two other enactments shall be 
mentioned. There was a tax on household furniture, 
and a dollar a year on dogs and cats : but dogs could 
emancipate themselves from the tax by learning to be 



272 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

useful in guarding houses, flocks, and herds ; and cats 
were not to be impoverished by taxation, if they kept 
at home and watched warehouses. 

Finally, the organic act was to be published in the 
English and Hawaiian languages. 

Such is a sketch of the constitution and code of 1845. 
It was introduced on its completion by a speech from 
the throne. Since that occasion a succession of royal 
speeches have been pronounced. These addresses of 
the two kings before the present Monarch have been col- 
lected and printed, and they serve as good landmarks for 
tracing the onward destinies of the nation. The King's 
ministers are, as is usual, responsible for their form and 
language, but it is stated that the ideas conveyed in them 
are very sincerely expressed, and expose truly the views 
of the Monarch upon public questions. 

The King spoke on the 20th of May, 1845, as 
follows : — 

Nobles and Representatives of the People : 

I have called you together to dehberate on matters 
connected with the good of my kingdom. 

In the exercise of my prerogatives, I have appointed 
Gerrit P. Judd, Esq., to be my Minister for the Interior Affairs 
of my kingdom ; Robert C. Wylhe, Esq., to be my Minister 
of Foreign Relations ; and John Ricord, Esq., to be my Law 
Adviser in aU matters relating to the Administration of 

Justice. 

I have ordered my Ministers to lay before you reports of 

their several departments. _ ^ 

The Independence of my kingdom has been most explicitly 
recognized by the United States, France, and Belgium. From 
each of these powers I have received the most friendly 

assurances. 

It is my wish to cultivate the relations of peace and friend- 



A SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 273 

ship with all nations, and to treat the subjects of ail with 
equal justice. 

With this view, I recommend to your consideration the 
better organization of the Courts of Justice, the division of 
powers, and a careful revisal of the laws. 

The laws regulating licences, the tenure of lands, the regis- 
tration of vessels, the harbour regulations, the duties, the fines 
lor the .punishment and correction of offences, the laws for the 
collection of debts and taxes generally, deserve your attention. 
My Minister of the Interior will laj before you the estimates 
of the expenses required for the ensuing year, for which it is 
incumbent on you to provide, with a due regard to economy 
and the means of my people. 

It is my desire that you take measures to ascertain whether 
the number of my people be diminishing or increasing; and 
that you devise means for augmenting the comforts and the 
prosperity of my islands. 

I consider it the first of my duties to protect religion, and 
promote good morals and general education. It will, therefore, 
be your duty to consider by what means those blessings can be 
best promoted and extended among the people of these islands, 
and also among the foreigners resident in my dominions. 

I am well aware that the Word of God is the corner-stone 
of my kingdom. Through its influence we have been intro- 
duced into the family of the independent nations of the earth. 
It shall therefore be mj constant endeavour to govern my sub- 
jects in the fear of the Lord ; to temper justice with mercy in 
the punishment of crime ; and to reward industry and virtue. 
The Almighty Euler of nations has dealt kindly with me 
in my troubles, in restoring my kingdom, together with 
special guarantees for its existence as an independent nation. 

May He also aid you in your deliberations, and may He 
grant His special protection to me, to you, and my people. 

The constitution as settled in 1845 was not destined 
to continue long. As soon as born it began to draw to 
its end, or rather to be remodelled, altered, improved. 

T 



274 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

The missionary influence, whicti had hitherto been all- 
prevailing over the government, was beginning to 
decline ; other elements were being introduced. The 
Minister of the Interior, though an American, had 
ceased connection with the mission to which he was 
originally the physician. Mr. Eicord, the Attorney- 
Greneral, also an American, was a man of unusually 
strong and independent mind ; retaining a very slight 
belief in democracy, and feeling decided tendencies 
towards a monarchy, and respect for the advantages of 
the British constitution. Indeed he does not hesitate 
to say in one of his letters^ ^ I am a rank Tory in this 
matter.' 

Mr. Wyllie, the Minister of Foreign Eolations, a 
Scotch proprietor, who had spent many years in London, 
where he was well known, a man of indefatigable habits, 
and who had become a thorough Conservative, formed 
the key-stone of the governmental arch. Nor was there 
wanting the inductive effect of outer influence ; for the 
late English Consul had been replaced by a man of much 
higher character, William Miller, Esq., whose romantic 
valour in the Chilian war of independence rivals that 
of Cervantes, and resembles in some points the trans- 
atlantic portion of G-aribaldi's life. Mr. Miller attained 
the rank of Greneral in the Cliilian army, and received 
the baton of a Field Marshal from Peru. He was ap- 
pointed by the English government their Consul-Greneral 
in the Hawaiian Islands, which rank was subsequently 
raised to that of English Commissioner. It is added 
with regret that news of G-eneral Miller's death has been 
received a few hoiurs before these hnes were written.* 

* 1862. The official record of the English Foreign office thus 
epitomizes General Miller's life : — • 

' "William Miller served in the Field Tx'ain Department of the Eoyal 



DECLINE OF MISSIONARY INFLUENCE. 275 

New light was breaking in ; the circumstances of the 
world at large were changing ; the Hawaiian nation, or 
rather its King and his sagest advisers, saw that it was 
necessary to meet the times. The advance of a true 
liberality is observed in reading consecutively the royal 
speeches. Kamehameha, or as the people still call him, 
Kauikeaouli the Beloved, showed a sincere devotion to 
his people in the disinterested suggestions he made for 
the benefit of his subjects, native and foreign, and still 
more in what he gave up of ancient privileges and 
possessions. From time to time the attention of the 
legislative body was called to a reconsideration of par- 
ticular statutes. In 1850 the King recommends the 
two houses to take into their earliest consideration the 
decrease of the native population, and to devise means 
to stay its progress. In the same speech he announces 
the downfall of the old feudal system. ' In June, 1848, 
in concurrence with my chiefs, and with the aid of my 
Privy Council, I made a division of lands, upon the 
principle of surrendering the greater portion of my 
royal domain to my chiefs and people, with a reserve 
of certain lands for the support of the fort and garrison 
of my capital, and certain other lands as my own private 
property, in lieu of the share which I, inheriting the 
right of my predecessors, held in all the lands of the 
islands. Under that joint-tenure, all lands howsoever 

Artillery from January 1, 1811, until the peace of 1815 ; was presentin 
several of the sieges and actions in the Peninsular war, and also in 
North America. Entered the Buenos A>Tes Artillery in 1817; served 
in Chili and Peru against the Eoyalist forces ; was raised to the rank 
of General of Division, April 8, 1823; during 1824 and 1825 was' 
under the command of General Bolivar ; was appointed Consul-General 
in the Sandwich Islands and other islands in the Pacific, August 16, 
1843; and Commissioner and Consul-General in the Sandwich Islands 
and their dependencies, December 1, 1855. Died October 31, 1861.' 

T 2 



276 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

or to whomsoever donated, were revocable at will ; no 
man's possession, even that of the highest chief, was 
secure, and no man thought of improving land, the 
possession of which was so uncertain. And for the 
further protection of the interests of his poorer subjects, 
the King announces that on the 21st of December, 
1849, certain resolutions were passed with a view of 
giving to the industrious cultivators of the soil an 
allodial title to the portions they occupied, and to facili- 
tate the acquisition of land, in fee simple, by others 
inclined to be industrious. 

To render the people provident, the King recom- 
mends the trial of a savings' bank. He also proposes 
for the careful consideration of the legislature the pro- 
ject for a criminal code, along with several legal enact- 
ments and amendments of laws, of which experience 
has demonstrated the necessity. 

Such, and similar to these, were the efforts of the 
King and his best counsellors to give the islands the 
advantage of a good and enlightened system of govern- 
ment. 

It resulted, in the process of time, that three com- 
missioners were appointed, who were to prepare jointly 
the draft of a new constitution. The King was repre- 
sented in this commission by Dr. Judd, whose demo- 
cratic prepossessions having been bred in the bone 
remained unabated. The chiefs selected Joane li, one 
of their own order, though not of high rank. He had 
been concerned in the first constitution. The repre- 
sentatives chose Mr. Lee, the Chief Justice, a tenacious, 
clear-headed man, born and educated in the United 
States, and who had acquired a large measure of in- 
fluence in the islands. Thus, republican principles were 
maintained in the commission in the proportion of two 



THE PREMIEESHIP. 277 

to one ; and even the native representative had but a 
small bias towards monarchical institutions. 

Under these auspices the constitution of 1852 was 
engendered. The draft was submitted to legislature, 
and after going through the necessary forms, it was 
signed by the King on the 14th of June, 1852, and 
became the law of the Hawaiian Islands, vice the 
constitution of 1 844, dismissed. 

With such a democratic preponderance in the com- 
mission, we are only surprised that so much of the 
monarchical remains in the constitution; and that so 
original and strange an institution as the premiership 
should have been retained, Kamehameha I. originated 
the office, to which he appointed his beloved Kaahu- 
manu. On the death of Kinau the Premier, the idea 
was suggested that her infant daughter, Victoria Kinau 
Kaahumanu, should in time succeed her mother in the 
office nearest the throne. She is sister to the present 
King. During the Princess's minority, the chief John 
Young (Keone Ana) acted as her locum tenens. The 
office of premier of the kingdom is a very peculiar one. 
Whilst it adds no security to the operations of go- 
vernment, it detracts from the King's dignity. Every 
document of State requires to be countersigned by the 
Premier, an arrangement often fraught with the highest 
inconvenience, and producing annoying delay. A com- 
mission or any other document of immediate necessity, 
issued by the advice of Privy Council and bearing the 
King's sign-manual, is invalid till it receives the Prin- 
cess's counter- signature ; and as the Premier's duties 
are not supposed to detain her constantly at the seat of 
government, the ill-consequences are sometimes . very 
serious. Upon a resistance by the Premier to sign a 
document, the King has upon more than one occasion 



278 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

dismissed the drag upon his wheels, and appointed a 
new Premier ; then, having obtained the desired counter- 
signature, has restored his sister to her office. 

By the last constitution, the Privy Council became a 
more pronounced and important adjunct of the State, 
whilst the element of representation still remains unde- 
fined, and as it were in its nonage. The people chose, 
and probably still choose, their representatives, not with 
that care and previous inspection with which Mrs. 
Primrose chose her wedding-gown, but in an offhand, 
al fresco manner. They placed more importance on 
the selection of their tax-gatherers and road-inspectors 
than they did on the election of their representatives in 
parliament, for the operative functions of the former, 
the petty officers, touched their purses and personal 
well-being the more closely. Questions of irrigation, 
and the length of a day's labour, had greater interest to 
the country people than higher and more abstract dis- 
cussions of the senate, though they soared to the divine 
right of kings, or the peaceable relations of great foreign 
powers.* 

Had Mr. A^'yllie, the intelligent and indefatigable 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, with his stout attachment 
to monarchy, been invited to the commission instead 
of Dr. Judd, there can be no doubt that more actual 
power would have vested in the King. Whatever may 

* Since the above passage was written, a remarkable exception to what 
is stated has occurred. The biennial election of representatives took 
place in January 1862, and was attended with the greatest excitement ; 
some acts of violence even, having been committed at the polling-places. 
This popular fervour was the effect not so much of an increased value 
attributed to the privileges of suffrage, as of religious partisanship 
— ^the Eoman Catholic voters pressing forward their candidates with 
the utmost earnestness, and, of course, causing thereby as earnest an 
opposition. 



THE PREMIEESHIP. 279 

have been the causes which operated on His Majesty's 
choice, his able minister had no direct hand in draftino- 
the constitution. Yet Mr. Wyllie's weight and influence 
with the government were well known ; and though not 
on board when the ship was launched from the stocks, 
a good pilot was at the helm, and was doing all he could 
to steer her straiofht. 



280 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEE XYIIL 

HISTORICAL SKETCH — THE CAEYSFORT AFFAIR. 

AN expression occurred in the King's speech given in 
the preceding chapter which must now be ex- 
plained. It was an expression of thankfulness for an 
escape out of troubles, and it spoke of a restoration of 
his kingdom. The circumstances alluded to require 
that we should retrace our steps several years. 

The happy-and-united-family condition of the com- 
mercial community in its early days did not always 
continue. As interests grew larger, and the mercantile 
class comprised English and European traders as well as 
Americans, there were occasional bickerings, jealousies, 
lawsuits. The consular appointments had not been 
happy. England was represented by Mr, or Captain R. 
Charlton, a careless, free-living man, much opposed to 
the straight missionary clique, not disliked by the native 
population, but deficient in diplomatic knowledge ; and 
in a small way the trading consuls were obliged to act 
in a political capacity and to exert personal influence. 
The first Commercial Agent, as the Americans style their 
consuls, was still more unfit for his office; and soobjection- 
able did he become to the native government, that upon 
their earnest remonstrance at Washington, Mr. Jones was 
removed, and was replaced by a Mr. Brinsmade, the 
senior partner of a house of business at Honolulu, trading 



MB. BEINSMADE AND HIS FIRM. 281 

under the name of Ladd & Co. Mr. Brinsmade was one 
of those rapid, intelligent, all-sided men which the social 
hot-bed of the United States produces so quickly and 
in such numbers — a man who, if his practice as a sur- 
geon fell off, would turn merchant ; if he failed in that, 
would become an editor ; or meeting with disappoint- 
ment in the last vocation, would without hesitation climb 
the steps of the rostrum as a preacher ; and even at a 
pinch would offer himself as a candidate for the presi- 
dentship. Mr. Brinsmade's manners were not unpleas- 
ing ; he wrote with point and rapidity, and his pen had 
a scabrous edge. The firm of which he was the leading 
member was a peculiar one. Its three constituents 
came out from the United States in 1833, to try the 
experiment of conducting business on ' purely Christian 
principles,' and of making their firm ' a pattern card of 
mercantile morality.' It was thought that the house 
received pecuniary assistance from the Boston Board 
Missions ; * it is certain that the missionary influence in 
the islands was strongly exercised in its favour, and the 
firm conducted the principal secular affairs of the 
Mission. The partners obtained, for an insignificant 
consideration, the grant of a long lease of a large tract 
of land on the island of Kauai for the establishment of 
sugar plantations; it also gained wharfage and ware- 
house sites in the harbour of Honolulu, together with 
valuable privileges in the shape of exemption from 
duties, and a supply of native labour. It is humiliating 
to think that a house commencing business with an un- 
limited capital of Christian principles should end in 
bankruptcy. 

The peace of the happy commercial family had 
been disturbed towards the year 1840 by claims and 
* A. Simpson, ' Progress of Events.' 



282 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

counter claims, arising out of business transactions 
between the American and British traders. Such a 
case occurred in 1839 ; and upon submitting the dispute 
to arbitration, Brinsmade's house was declared indebted 
to an English subject to the extent of 6,000L Subse- 
quently such claims were decided by juries ; but as it 
was before the promulgation of the Constitution and the 
Code, proceedings were most irregular, and entirely of 
an amateur character. In 1840, in consequence of the 
refusal of English residents to contribute towards the 
construction of a new road, the Grovernor of Oahu 
forcibly caused the native servants of non-contributors 
to labour on the work. Complaints were in consequence 
made to the English Consul, — the Agent of the Hudson's 
Bay Company being one of the complainants. A great 
deal of ill-feeling was elicited between the British, 
Governor Kekuanaoa, and the Americans who sided with 
him. These difficulties arose about some j ury cases and 
the proportions of English and American empanelled. 
A difficulty of this kind was referred to Captain Jenkin 
Jones, who with H.B.M.'s ship ^Curapoa' was then in 
the harbour ; but the English commander's intervention, 
if anything, made matters worse than they were before, 
and the acrimony which existed between classes was 
excessive. The English Consul, whatever good points 
he might have possessed, was unfit for his position ; he 
was hasty in temper, and uncouth in his communica- 
tions, and had made himself many enemies. In the 
meantime the influence of Mr. Brinsmade, the United 
States Commercial Agent, over the King and the native 
government, was rapidly increasing. 

Sir George Simpson, the Territorial Governor of 
Hudson's Bay, was at the time visiting the islands. 
He gave the government the benefit of his advice. 



A STAMPEDO. 283 

and also made tliem a loan of 10,000L Amongst 
other things, Sir George recommended that commis- 
sioners should be appointed to proceed to the United 
States and Europe, to negotiate for an acknowledgment 
of the independence of the islands, and for a guarantee 
against their usurpation by any of the great powers. 
The commissioners appointed on this errand were the 
Eev. W. Richards, the chief Timoteo Haalilio, and Sir 
George Simpson. The last-named immediately left for 
the North- West Settlements of Russia, and travelling 
through Siberia, made his way to London. In July 
1842, Mr Richards and Haalilio started for the United 
States, via Mazatlan. 

There was quite an eastern emigration. Mr. Brins- 
made had already taken his departure for Europe, with 
designs which will be hereafter explained. He left his 
partner, Mr. Hooper, to act in his absence. Lastly, 
Mr. Charlton found, or fancied he found, that he was 
dwelling in a wasp's nest, and that everybody was against 
him. ' Irritated by the numerous insults he had re- 
ceived, and the open disregard by the government 
officers of his interference when British subjects were 
concerned ; thinking also, that it was necessary that the 
representations to be made by Richards and Haalilio 
and their backers should be met on the spot, he de- 
termined to proceed to London, via Mexico.' * He 
accordingly took wing from the islands in September 
of the same year, leaving as his substitute, Mr. Alexander 
Simpson, who had arrived there on business of the 
Hudson's Bay Company. Simpson was a relative of 
Sir George's, and brother to the discoverer of the same 
name, who, with Dease, completed the survey of the 
northern coast of America. 

* ' Progress of Events.' 



284 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

The temper in which the English Consul left Hawaii 
will be seen by the following letter in which he 
announced to the King his intended departure : — 

British Consulate, Woahoo, Sept. 26, 1842. 
Sir, 

From the insults received from the local authorities of 
Your Majesty's government, and from the insults offered to 
my Sovereign, Her most Gracious Majesty, Victoria the First, 
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
by Mathew Kekuanaoa, Governor of this island ; and for 
other weighty causes affecting the interests of Her Ma.jesty's 
subjects in these islands, I consider it my bounden duty to 
repair immediately to Great Britain to lay statements before 
Her Majesty's government, and have therefore appointed, by 
commission, as I am fully authorized to do, Alexander Simpson, 
Esq., to act as consul until Her Majesty's pleasure be known. 

Your Majesty's government has more than once insulted the 
British flag, but you must not suppose that it will be passed 
over in silence. Justice, though tardy, will reach you ; and it 
is you, not your advisers, that will be punished. 

I have the honour to be Your Majesty's most obedient 
humble servant, 

EiCHARD Charlton, 

Consul. 

His Majesty Kamehamelia. 

This letter is a specimen of Mr. Charlton's written 
communications, and are indicative of his humour when 
he left the islands, — never to return. But he had 
another and a very personal cause of disquietude at that 
time. A debt incurred to some persons at Valparaiso, 
ten years before, was pressed ; and the claimants had 
commissioned Mr. Pelly, the agent of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, to collect it for tnem. A suit was instituted 
against Charlton, and shortly after his departure, a 
verdict was given by a jury composed of foreigners. 



THE SELF-BANISHED. 285 

against the Englisli Consul. It was in this mood, and 
* all smarting with his wounds/ that he fell in on his 
way to England with Lord Greorge Paulet, commanding 
H.B.M.'s frigate 'Carysfort.' Into his lordship's ear 
he poured the story of wrongs, insults, and expected 
dangers. 

Of Mr. Charlton himself, we now take leave. He 
went to the Foreign Office, and was summarily relieved 
from his post by Lord Aberdeen, who disapproved of 
his conduct in the islands, and particularly its ill-judged 
conclusion. Nor was his consular representative in 
Honolulu, Mr. Simpson, in an agreeable or flattering 
position. The King and the government would not 
recognize him in his official character ; the bickerino-s 
increased; resolutions and counter-resolutions of the 
residents were passed, condemnatory, .complimentarv, 
&c., &c. Id the meanwhile, though the English flag 
drooped listlessly over the consulate, the consular sub- 
stitute found himself excluded from the official circle, 
and in his turn was lashing himself into great anger ; 
and in consequence of the verdict given against Charlton, 
in his Valparaiso matter, the property of the latter was 
attached for payment by an order of the Court. The 
action of the judicature which had been invoked by the 
creditors' agent was stigmatized as an interference, and 
was condemned by a meeting of British subjects. On 
the other hand, a solemn resolution was come to by 
other residents, English and foreign, supporting the 
government, deprecating the dangers and difficulties 
into which it was being brought by ' machinations and 
misrepresentations,' and declaring the conduct of the 
Consul and Mr. Simpson to have been ' vexatious, arbi- 
trary, and hostile in the extreme.' So the quarrel was 
a very pretty quarrel as it stood. 



2S6 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

In November Mr. Simpson addressed a letter to 
H.B.M.'s Consul for the Western coast of Mexico, in- 
forming him of all the current events. The Consul 
indoctrinated with his views Rear- Admiral Thomas, 
Commander in Chief on the Pacific station. The English 
Admiral believing the persons and property of English 
subjects to be in peril, despatched Lord Greorge Paulet 
in the ' Carysfort ' to enquire into and to redress these 
wrongs, and to ward off these dangers. On February 10, 
1843, that is, before the sale of .Mr. Charlton's property 
had been proceeded with, the ' Carysfort ' arrived at 
Honolulu, and showed by withholding the usual salutes, 
that there was displeasure in her visit. 

Mr. Simpson, the English Acting Consul, immediately 
went on board the frigate, and had an interview with 
Lord Greorge, from whom he received letters from 
Admiral Thomas. Dr. Judd also went on board, with 
the intention of paying an official visit, but the King 
being absent at the time on another island, he was not 
received. Official visits from the consular representatives 
of France and the United States were equally declined ; 
but mutual unofficial calls and civilities were proceeded 
with. On the 1 1th Captain Paulet addressed a letter 
to the Grovernor of Oahu, stating that his arrival at 
Honolulu was for the purpose of affording protection to 
British subjects and support to H.B.M.'s representative, 
who had received repeated insults, &c., and adding that 
it was his intention to communicate only with the King 
in person. In reply to this despatch, Grovernor Kekua- 
naoa wrote that he would immediately send to Maui 
where the King was, and His Majesty might be expected 
at Honolulu in six days. 

On the 13th, the United States corvette ^Boston,' 
Captain Long, arrived. Her commander maintained a 



LORD GEOEGE PAULET's DEMANDS. 287 

proper neutrality during the proceedings; but her 
presence was gladly, and naturally, welcomed by the 
American residents. Proper courtesies passed between 
Captain Long and Lord Greorge Paulet. 

On the 16th, the King having arrived from Maui, 
Lord George wrote, demanding a private interview. 
This request having been considered by the King and 
his counsellors, the private interview was declined. 
The answer to the note stated the readiness of the King 
and the Premier to receive a written communication ; 
and that in case any business of a private nature required 
to be transacted, the King would appoint Dr. Judd ' his 
confidential agent ' to confer with Captain Paulet. 

\Miether the refusal of the desired interview was the 
proper step to have taken, need not be discussed. Lord 
Creorge was irritated by it, and wrote the same day, 
the 17th, declining to hold any communication with 
Dr. Judd, and enclosing a paper of ' demands ' made on 
the native government, to which compliance was de- 
manded at or before four p.m. the following day, 

Saturday. The paper was entitled, ' Demands made by 
the Eight Hon. Lord Greorge Paulet, Captain, E.N., 
commanding H.B. Majesty's ship " Carysfort," upon the 
King of the Sandwich Islands.' The demands were six 
in number. The first required, that the attachment on 
Charlton's property should be removed; that land 
stated to be Charlton's, and which the government had 
appropriated, should be restored, and reparation be 
made for the heavy loss to which his representatives 
had been exposed ' by the oppressive and unjust pro- 
ceedings of the Sandwich Islands government.' The 
second demand related to the rights and dignity of 
Mr. Simpson, acting for the English Consul, and toHer 
Majesty the Queen, who had been sorely insulted through 



288 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Mr. Simpson's sides. These blots to be wiped out by a 
public reception of the Acting Consul's Commission, and 
by a salute of twenty-one guns to the English flag, 
which salute should be returned by the ' Carysfort.' 
The third demand was for a guarantee that no English 
subject should be imprisoned in fetters, unless for 
felony. The fourth, that a new trial should be granted 
in the matter of Skinner versus Dominis. The fifth 
demand related to disputes between British subjects 
and natives, proposing that such disputes should be 
referred to mixed juries, one half the number empanelled 
to be English subjects. The sixth, demanded a direct 
communication between the King and the English 
Acting: Consul 'for the immediate settlement of all 
cases of grievance and complaint on the part of British 
subjects against the Sandwich Islands government. 

Such were the concessions demanded from the King 
and his advisers, for deciding on which demands the 
King was allowed till four p.m. the following day. They 
were the fruits of Charlton's unfitness and violence, and 
the egotism of his substitute. 

Lord Greorge notified to the commander of the Ameri- 
can corvette his intention to make an attack upon the 
town at four o'clock the next day, if the demands sent 
to the King were not complied with before that hour. 
The Americans and some other foreigners placed their 
funds and papers on board the ' Boston,' and prepared 
to take refuge there themselves in the event of actual 
hostilities. 

The first feeling induced by Captain Paulet's com- 
munication was that of dismay ; the next, of indignation. 
The common people, ignorant of the effect of a broad- 
side of 64 and 32 pounders from a frigate of a thousand 
tons burden, began to arm. They would get them a 



PERSUASION BY BROADSIDES. 289 

sword though it were made of lath, against such an 
armament as the ' Carysfort's.' The next morning the 
frigate was cleared for action, and her battery brought 
to bear upon the little fort. An English vessel was 
towed out of the harbour, and the ladies and children, 
protected by that flag, went on board of her. The 
turmoil of natural feelings having had its play for 
several hours, the advisers of the King and his chiefs 
succeeded in demonstrating the fallacy of a possible 
resistance on shore, or an attack, by boarding, on the 
frigate. Before the sanguinary hour arrived, peaceful 
counsels were allowed to prevail, and a letter, dated the 
18th, was sent oiBf to the ' Carysfort,' acknowledging the 
receipt of the paper of demands, and making known to 
Lord George, that Sir Greorge Simpson and Mr. Eichards 
had been commissioned as ministers plenipotentiary to 
the Court of Great Britain, with full powers to settle 
difficulties, and to assure Her Majesty the Queen, of the 
uninterrupted affection of the King and the Hawaiian 
nation, and to confer with her ministers as to the best 
means of securing harmony between the two nations. 
The King and Premier, whilst they deprecated some of 
the demands sent in as embarrassing to a feeble govern- 
ment and as contravening the laws, yet would comply 
with the whole of them under protest, and with the 
intention of representing their case to the English 
government. The letter was signed by the King and 
the Premier Kekauluohi. 

This decision, however humiliating, was no doubt the 
wisest that could have been come to. Lord G-eorge 
replied immediately and appointed that an interchange 
of salutes should take place at two o'clock the same 
day. He also demanded as Her Britannic Majesty's 
representative an interview with the King. 



290 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Later in the afternoon a formal protest was lodged 
against the proceedings of Lord George Paulet, and a 
solemn appeal to the English government was entered 
for redress, justification, &c. 

Monday the 20th, was fixed for the interview. The 
same day the King and the Premier visited the ' Carys- 
fort,' and were received with royal honours. This 
interchange of civilities proved, however, most fal- 
lacious. The six demands had been acceded to under 
gTeat pressure, and any casus belli seemed to have been 
removed ; but the following day a new series of de- 
mands, in the form of claims for money, was sent in, 
with some other rather oppressive stipulations attached 
to it. There is a well-known fungus, the phallus 
impudicus, which grows more rapidly than any vege- 
table production. It springs up and attains its full 
dimensions in a night, and its expansion can even be 
observed by the eye. Yet the growth of this un- 
pleasant cryptogam did not equal in rapidity or 
extent the sudden indebtedness of the Hawaiian govern- 
ment, as noted during a few hours on board the ' Carys- 
fort' frigate. In half a day a mushroom debt of 
^117,330, 89 c. (so scrupulously exact were the com- 
puters) had pushed itself into being, and been deli- 
neated on paper. One item alone may be mentioned 
as a finance curiosity. The aid of a naval commander- 
in-chief had been invoked to prevent the sale of some 
effects of Mr. Charlton, attached for debt. That sale 
was happily averted by a captain of a frigate leaving a 
lucrative station, and threatening an unprotected town 
with his guns. But a ' connection of the sufferer ' had 
put by ^10,000 in order to purchase his relative's 
property sold under execution ; and that sale not taking 
place, the intended purchaser found himself endamaged 



CONDITIONAL CESSION OF THE ISLANDS. 291 

to the extent of ^3,000 by the non-transaction. It will 
be unnecessary after this, to audit the account of claims 
fartlier. 

The new schedule of demands filled the King and his 
counsellors with despair. It would occupy too much 
space to describe the agitations, the conferences, the 
plans which occupied them for the succeeding four 
days. They saw that contention was hopeless, that 
concession was only provocative of further demands 
An immediate cession of the islands to France or to the 
United States was canvassed. The effects which would 
follow an attempted resistance were too clear. Inter- 
views and remonstrances were held with Lord George 
Paulet and Mr. Simpson ; and at last it was decided 
to cut the knot of difficulty by ceding the Hawaiian 
archipelago to the English government in the person of 
Lord George Paulet; not so much handing them over 
m part payment of the debt so suddenlv developed, as 
acting on the wise principle of placing oneself and' all 
one's valuables in a robber's hands, as the last resource 
for personal safety. 

The cession was made in the following terms :-^ 

^ In consequence of the difficulties in which we find ourselves 
involved, and our opinion of the impossibility of complying with 
the demands in the manner in which they are made by Her 
Britannic JMajesty's representative upon us, in reference to the 
claims of British subjects, we do hereby cede the oroup of 
islands known as the Hawaiian (or Sandwich) Islands, unto the 
Right Hon. Lord George Paulet, Captain of Her Britannic 
Majesty s ship of war ' Carysfort,' representing Her Majestv 
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, from this date 
and for the time being : the said cession being made with the 
reservation, that it is subject to any arrangement that may 
have been entered into by the representatives appointed by us 



292 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

to treat with tlie Government of Her Britannic Majesty ; and 
in the event that no agreement has been entered into previous 
to the date hereof, subject to the decision of Her Britannic 
Majesty's Government on conference with the said representa- 
tives appointed by us ; or in the event of our representatives 
not being accessible, or not having been acknowledged, subject 
to the decision which Her Britannic Majesty may pronounce 
on the receipt of full information from us, and from the Right 
Hon. Lord George Paulet. 

In confirmation of the above we hereby affix our names and 
seals this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of 
our Lord 1843, at Honolulu, Oahu, Sandwich Islands. 

Signed in the presence of G. P. Judd, Recorder 
and Translator for the Government, 

Kamehameha III. 
Kekauluoi. 

Such was the document by which the G-ordian knot 
was cut. After four days of misery, doubt, and endless 
conference, the King felt the natural relief winch attends 
a decision of any sort. If therefore he shook hands 
with Lord George and Mr. Simpson after that decision 
was made, and said, ' Now I'm happy, and I go to take 
a ride,' it argues no levity or indifference about the 
very grave position in which he and his kingdom had 
been placed ; it speaks only of the rebound from de- 
pressing anxieties, the springing up of the heart from 
its prison of pain, and the desire to be quit of the 
scene of indignity, and to find rest and refreshment in 
rapid motion. The same day the cession was signed, 
the King issued a patriotic address to the ^chiefs, 
people, and commons from his ancestors,' and to ' the 
people from foreign lands,' expressing under what 
difficulty and perplexities he had given away the ' life 



THE INTERREGNUM. 293 

of our land ' and his hope that it would be restored to 
them. Too great weight need not be attached to this 
document, because though in the native form of speak- 
ing, the pen was probably guided by Dr. Judd and his 
associates. 

Provision was immediately made for carrying on the 
government of the islands conjointly by the King and 
chiefs, and a commission consisting, in addition, of Lord 
George Paulet, Mr. Frere, a lieutenant on board the 
' Carysfort,' and a gentleman then visiting the islands, 
named JMackay. The Hawaiian flag was hauled 
down, as the deed of cession was read in the square 
of the fort, and the British colours were hoisted in 
its place; and at the same time the flag that waved 
over the English consulate was struck, Mr. Simpson's 
functions being at an end. It is worthy of remark that 
the day when these transactions, so melancholy and 
humiliating to the Hawaiian nation, took place, the 
25th of February, was the forty-ninth anniversary of 
the cession of the islands made to Vancouver. 

The British flag was hoisted on all the islands, but 
the people chafed under the new rule. The French 
Consul refused to acknowledge the new government, and 
his official functions were suspended ; an additional duty 
was levied on imports, and certain restrictions upon 
vice having been abrogated, the old days seemed to 
have returned, prostitution walked open and shameless 
in the city, and women went off to the ships in the 
harbour without restraint. It is complained in the 
history of that time, that the King and his chiefs were 
repeatedly insulted, and that efforts were made to seize 
on the national treasury and records. 

On the 11th of March Mr. Simpson left Honolulu for 
London, with despatches from Lord George Paulet to 



294 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the Foreign Office. The King and his chiefs wishing 
to be represented there, Mr. Marshall, an American 
subject, was secretly instructed, and travelled in the 
same vessel, one belonging to the King, to Mexico, with 
the exacting English Consul, and thence to the United 
States— but without making known the object of his 

journey. 

At the end of June, Dr. Judd, who had previously 
withdrawn from his office under the new government, 
of King's deputy, removed the national records secretly 
from the government house, to the tomb of the Kings. 
Thither he retired, himself, to work ; and ' in this abode 
of death, surrounded by the sovereigns of Hawaii, using 
the coffin of Kaahumanu for a table, for many weeks 
he nightly found an unsuspected asylum for his own 
labours in behalf of the kingdom.' In reading this 
passage we seem to have wandered back to the neigh- 
bourhood of Damascus, and to be engaged with the age 
of the Khalifat of Haroun Er Kaschid and his trusty 
Vizier. We feel glad that some energy and even romance 
still remain in these pigmy times of ours. 

On the 6th of July, the U.S. ship ' Constellation,' 
Commodore Kearney, arrived at Honolulu, and pro- 
tested against the ' seizure ' of the islands, and he treated 
the King and chiefs on all occasions as independent 
princes. Lord Oeorge Paulet having written remon- 
strances to the King, the latter came from Maui, to 
communicate with Commodore Kearney. Captain 
Paulet was irritated by this proceeding, and things 
began to look badly, when on the 26th of the month, 
the 'Dublin' frigate bearing Kear Admiral Thomas's 
pennant, arrived off Honolulu. He had received letters 
from Lord Oeorge, and had left Valparaiso in conse- 
quence. He immediately made known his intention of 



RESTORATION OF THE ISLANDS. 295 

restoring the islands to their natural governors. The 
joyful news quickly spread among the people. On the 
27th, the Admiral in an interview with the King agreed 
to the terms of restoration ; and although stipulations 
were contained in these, very favourable to English 
interests, and likely to occasion some embarrassments 
to the native government in executing them, yet the 
inconveniences were as nothing in the scale weighed 
against the great and unexpected benefit conferred in 
giving back 'the life of the land.' On the 31st, the 
restoration was publicly made, amidst acclamations and 
joy. Eastward of the city lies an extensive plain, which 
was chosen for the scene of this conspicuous act of 
justice. Thither poured the population of Honolulu 
early in the day, under a cloudless and smiling sky. At 
ten in the morning, the EngHsh marines being drawn 
up in line, supported by a corps of artillery, the King, 
escorted by his own troops, arrived on the ground. As 
the royal standard was unfurled, the brass guns of the 
* Dublin's ' corps fired a salute, and simultaneously the 
English colours were lowered at the forts, and the 
Hawaiian flag rushed up and fluttered joyfully in the 
morning breeze. Then spoke out their salutations, the 
guns of the ships of war ' Dublin,' ^ Hazard,' ' Carysfort,' 
and ' Constellation,' together with those of the two forts 
and the shipping in the harbour. If explosions of 
powder can make men glad, the Hawaiians were glad 
that day. The military having been reviewed, the King 
returned to his house, where the native troops raised 
by Lord George Paulet, saluted the King's flag, and 
swore fealty to their sovereign. The officers who had 
received British commissions kissed the King's hand. 
At one, there was divine service at church, and then the 
King in the sacred edifice addressed his people, and told 



£96 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

them how ' the life of the land ' had been restored to 
him. His would be no cold words. The unrealities of 
older civilized states had not yet taught the Polynesians 
to listen to official eloquence with unbelieving calmness 
and a condescending 'hear hear,' in its due place. 
Kamehameha III. had serious faults of character, but 
he loved his people and his land with a warm, true, and 
devoted love, and the words which he uttered that day 
were genuine and deeply felt both by the speaker, and 
his breathless auditory. The King's speech was followed 
by a spirited address from one of the chiefs, who an- 
nounced, in his sovereign's name, a general amnesty, 
the release of all prisoners, and a festival of ten days. 
During that period of carnival, balls and entertainments 
were given by the residents of Honolulu, in which native 
chiefs, and the officers of the numerous men-of-war in 
port, met in friendly intercourse ; and before the festival 
days were over, the U.S. ships 'United States' and 
' Cyane ' arrived, bringing with them news which in- 
creased the general joy, that the independence of the 
Hawaiian Islands had been recognized by England and 
France. As a final act to that eventful rejoicing, an 
endeavour was made to take advantage of it to reconcile 
all conflicting parties in the kingdom. 

It is a peculiarity with the Hawaiians, that in all the 
events in which our own country has been concerned 
with them, they look to England with gratitude and 
love. They have had to bear from us at times some 
wrongs, and some of the arrogance of a superior people. 
But they possess the happy temperament of being able 
to forget a wound given, and bless the hand — the same 
which stabbed— that binds up the wound. Thank- 
fulness for the restoration of their country immediately 
succeeded and supplanted any feelings of resentment ; 



NATIONAL GEATITUDE. 297 

and among the most honoured names in the roll of their 
remembrance, stands that of the late Admiral Thomas. 
Lord Greorge Paulet was a courteous but firm English- 
man, who carried out with an unhesitating decision the 
duty which seemed to lie before him. Towards him 
the people did not seem to cherish any anger, and their 
joy at the restoration of their islands has taken the 
form of a perennial gratitude to the English officer who 
was the instrument of that act of justice. Admiral 
Thomas's day is one of three yearly celebrations kept at 
Hawaii, and on that day the most distant consular 
agents of the kingdom are required to hoist the national 
flag. This grateful feeling follows him beyond the 
grave, and seeks to express itself to his descendants. 
There is an unusual simplicity in all this, very startling 
in our days of complex motives and restrained senti- 
ments. We scarcely know whether to smile or to blush 
at the lesson afforded us, and we are inclined to repeat 
the words of the great reflective poet : — 

' I've heard of hearts unkind, kind deeds 

With coldness still returning; — 
Alas ! the gratitude of men 

Hath oftener left me mourning. 



298 HAWAIIA.N ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEK XIX. 

HISTOKICAL SKETCH — THE ENVOYS EXTRAORDINAEY — 
THE BELaiAN CONTRACT. 

THE scene now shifts to Europe, whither the principal 
actors in our history have simultaneously betaken 
themselves. Thither has gone, burning with anger, the 
English Consul, Mr. Charlton,— to be finally extin- 
guished. There, too, has gone Mr. Brinsmade, the 
United States Consul, upon important business to be 
mentioned hereafter, about which he laboured long and 
with the most perfect unsuccess. Thither have gone, 
though by different routes, the ministers plenipotentiary 
and envoys extraordinary, viz.. Sir George Simpson, 
Governor of Hudson's Bay, via Siberia, and Mr. Richards, 
the ex-missionary, and Haalilio, a chief of inferior rank, 
and late secretary to the King, via United States. Thither 
also has gone Mr. A. Simpson, late acting English 
consul ; to carry news to the English government of the 
cession of the islands, and to find his news already 
known, and himself as coldly received as the messenger 
who brought the tidings of Saul's death to David. Lastly, 
thither had gone Mr. J. F. B. Marshall, charged with 
secret instructions from the King, to act as a corrective 
to Mr. Simpson in England, the latter travelling with 
him in perfect innocence of his mission, — as quietly 



OLD FACES UNDER NEW SKIES. 999 

as the acid and the alkaline powders rest side by side in 
a seidlitz-powder box, though so antagonistic in their 
nature, and so ready to fizz when finally brought into 
contact. Simpson was doomed ' to find, too late, that 
men betray,' — particularly American citizens. He says 
in his pamphlet — 

A Mr. Marshall, an American shopkeeper at the islands, 
by a ruse de guerre of Judd and the American consul, got a 
passage in the schooner sent to convey me to Western Mexico. 
He spread abroad the news as he passed through the States — 
where it excited intense attention ; and on his arrival in 
England, entered, in conjunction with Richards and Haahlio, 
into communication with the Foreign Office. 

The first business of Richards and Haalilio was at 
Washington. There, after some negotiation, though 
no declaration of independence was at that time ob- 
tained, the President, in a message to Congress on the 
31st December, 1842, used language respecting the 
Hawaiian Islands which was considerate enough, and 
coupled with the appointment of a commissioner to 
reside at the court of Hawaii, was taken to be tanta- 
mount to a formal recognition. The commissioner 
despatched to Honolulu was Mr. Gporge Brown. The 
envoys arrived in London in February 1843, and being 
joined by Sir George Simpson, had an interview with 
the Earl of Aberdeen, who was at first unfavourable to 
the idea of formally recognising the independence of 
the islands, believing them to be too greatly under 
American influence. On the 8th of March the envoys 
went to Belgium, on their way to Paris. They saw 
King Leopold, who pledged his influence to aid the 
object of their mission. On the 17th they had an inter- 
view with M. Guizot, who received them with marked 
courtesy, and promptly gave a pledge to acknowledge 



300 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the independence of the islands. The different impres- 
sion made on the observant native chief Haalilio by the 
two diplomatists is striking and amusing. ' When we 
went to Lord Aberdeen,' he said, * he was very grave and 
angry-looking ; but he gave us all we wanted : when 
we went to Monsieur Guizot, he was very polite and 
friendly, but would give us no satisfaction.' 

Keturning to London, the commissioners received, on 
the 25th of February, in an interview with Lord Aber- 
deen, the assurance that the independence of the islands 
would be virtually or really acknowledged, and that 
Mr. Charlton would be removed; and on the 1st of 
April his lordship formally communicated to them the 
willingness of the English government, and its deter- 
mination, to recognise the independence of the Sandwich 
Islands under their present sovereign ; adding that Her 
Majesty's government desired no special favour or im- 
munity for British subjects, but on the contrary wished 
to see all foreigners residing in the Sandwich Islands 
treated on a footing of perfect equality before the law, 
and equal protection afforded by the government to all. 
Shortly after this satisfactory decision of the English 
government, the news was received of the provisional 
cession of the group to Lord George Paulet. The same 
intelligence had already been made known in the United 
States by Mr. Marshall, ' where,' says Mr. Jarves, ' added 
to other causes tending to influence the national mind 
against England, it created a prodigious excitement.' 
The newspapers wrote sensation articles upOD English 
rapacity, and stump-orators worked up the English 
captain's act into excellent political capital. 

On the 13th of June Messieurs Haalilio and Kichards 
were informed that the English government had no 
desire to retain possession of the Sandwich Islands; 



INDEPENDENCE OF THE ISLANDS RECOGNISED. 301 

and this decision was communicated to Paris and to 
Washington. At the latter place, our minister informed 
the President that the seizure ' was an act entirely un- 
authorized by Her Majesty's government;' and Mr. 
Fox explained, at the same time, that his government 
had during the past year instructed the English Consul 
and the naval officers on the Pacific station to treat the 
native rulers of the Sandwich Islands upon all occasions 
with forbearance and courtesy, and to avoid interfering 
harshly or unnecessarily with their laws and govern- 
ment. He disclaimed on the part of England any 
desire to make the Hawaiians feel their dependence on 
foreign powers, or to establish for itself any paramount 
influence in the islands at the expense of that enjoyed 
by other foreign powers. All that was sought was that 
other powers should not exercise, there, a greater 
influence than that possessed by Grreat Britain.* 

* The following letter from Lord Canning to the late Lord Herbert, 
has been communicated to me by Mr. J. Pinhorn, E.N., secretary to 
Admiral Thomas, Commander-in-chief of H.B.M.'s Naval Eorces in the 
Pacific : — 

' Foreign Office, June 13, 1844. 
*bir, 

' I am directed by the Earl of Aberdeen to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your letter of the 7th instant, enclosing copies of Eear- Admiral 
Thomas's correspondence with the Admiralty, dated the 17th of February, 
from the Sandwich Islands ; and I am to request that you will state to 
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment have received with the highest satisfaction, the whole of Admiral 
Thomg,s's proceedings at the Sandwich Islands, as marked by great pro- 
priety and admirable judgment tliroughout, and as calculated to raise 
the character of the British authorities for justice, moderation, and 
courtesy of demeanour, in the estimation of the natives of those remote 
countries, and of the world. 

* I am, &c., 
, ^^ ^j^^ (Signed) ' Canning. 

* Et. Hon. Sidney Herbert, M.P., 

' Secretary, Admiralty.' 



302 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Subsequently, the claims made against the Hawaiian 
government for money compensation, contained in 
Lord G-eorge Paulet's second paper of demands, were 
gone into at the P^oreign Office, and were equitably 
disposed of. A claim by the envoys for indemnification 
to the Hawaiian government for damnification by the 
acts of Lord George was disallowed, on the ground of 
the spontaneity of the cession made by the King. On 
the 28tli of November the English and French govern- 
ments united in a joint declaration of the independence 
of the Hawaiian kingdom, in the following terms :— 

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the French, 
taking into consideration the existence in the Sandwich Islands 
of a government capable of providing for the regularity of its 
relations Avith foreign nations, have thought it right to engage 
reciprocally to consider the Sandwich Islands as an Indepen- 
dent State, and never to take possession, either directly or 
imder the title of Protectorate, or under any other form, of 
any part of the territory of which they are composed. 

The undersigned. Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State 
for Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador Extraordinary of His 
Majesty the King of the French at the Court of London, being 
furnished with the necessary powers, hereby declare, in conse- 
quence, that their Majesties take reciprocally that engagement. 

In witness whereof the undersigned have signed the present 
declaration, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. ^ 

Done in dupHcate, at London, the 28th day of November, in 

the year of our Lord 1843. 

(Signed) Aberdeen (L.S.) 

St. Aulaiee (L.S.) 

Thus, the Hawaiian kingdom was admitted into the 
brotherhood of civiHsed nations. The following spring 
the envoys returned to the United States, and on the 



INDEPENDENCE OF THE ISLANDS RECOGNISED. 303 

6th of July, 1844, they received from Mr. Calhoun, 
then Secretary of State, a ' full recognition, on the 
part of the United States, of the independence of the 
Hawaiian government.' 

Their mission successfully fulfilled, the two commis- 
sioners sailed from Boston for Honolulu. Mr. Eichards 
reached the islands alone, his coadjutor Haalilio having 
died at sea on the 3rd of December.* In February 
1844 Consul-G-eneral Miller arrived at his post. He 
brought with him a convention drawn up in London, 
requiring the admission of ardent spirits into the 
islands, the limitation of duties to five per cent, ad 
valorem, and some regulations about juries in criminal 
cases in which foreigners were concerned. As these con- 
ditions were a restriction on the King's prerogatives, he 
gave a very unwilling assent to them. In March the 
same year, Mr. Eicord was appointed Attorney-Greneral 
to the kingdom ; and the year following, Mr. Wyllie, a 
friend of the late Greneral Miller's, and who during a 
visit to the Hawaiian Islands had become favourably 
known to the King, chiefs, and the foreigners resident 
at Honolulu, was invited by His Majesty to fill the 
post of Minister of Foreign Eolations. The appoint- 
ment was one which would tend to upset the theory of 
Mr. Alexander Bain ; as here, undoubtedly, the right 
man was put into the right place, contrary to that 
writer's experience. For twenty years Mr. Wyllie de- 
voted his energies and the powers of an enlightened 
understanding to the service of the King and the nation 
he adopted — for all government officers are required 
to become naturalised Hawaiians. Would that he had 



* In my own short personal intercourse with this chief, I was struck 
by his intelligence and the gentleness of his manner. 



304 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

lived longer, to aid the nation in its councils and to 
promote its prosperity I 

M. Dudoit had been appointed Consul for France, 
and his respectful conduct towards the King and his 
government, and his tact in the management of his 
office, won for him the friendship and esteem of all 
classes. The Roman Catholic clergy ceased to com- 
plain, ' and formally professed themselves gratified with 
the entire toleration of religious beliefs that prevailed, 
and the perfect impartiality of government. This was 
high praise from the priests of Rome to a Protestant 
government.' * In July 1 844 Mr. James Jackson Jarves, 
an American citizen, was appointed director of the 
government Press, and editor of the ' Polynesian,' the 
organ of government. The office was held by this 
gentleman for about two years, and the power of access 
it gave him to national archives and to public men, 
greatly enabled him to collect materials for additions 
to his very able and diligent history of the Hawaiian 
Islands first published in 1843, in a third edition dated 
Honolulu 1847, and to which the present volume is 

largely indebted. 

We have once more to return to Europe, where one 
of our dramatis personce is wandering. This is Mr. 
Brinsmade, the American commercial agent or Consul 
already mentioned. The house of Ladd and Co., of 
which he was a partner, had obtained concessions and 
privileges in the islands of considerable value. It has 
been mentioned that when they commenced business 
they put out the platform that their firm was to be 
^ a pattern card of mercantile morality ' and was to be 
conducted on ' purely religious principles.' They had 
the support, accordingly, of the missionary party, and 

* Jaryes' History. 



BRINSMADE S PRIVATE POLITICS. 305 

had great advantages with a government which was in a 
highly missionarized state ; but in spite of advantages, 
concessions, and immunities, the house gradually became 
insolvent, and in the year 1845 it was indebted to the 
government ^21,000, and to other creditors ^^140,000. 
The state of its affairs beings critical in 1841, though its 
position was at that time unknown, except probably by 
one member of government, Mr. Brinsmade started for 
Europe, carrying \vith him blank powers for the sale of 
land, and an extensive contract for grants and leases 
under certain conditions entered into by the King with 
the house of Ladd and Co. Brinsmade's object was to 
sell their private privileges and grants, under a pro- 
posal for getting up a great joint-stock company in 
Europe, of which humanity and brotherly kindness were 
still to be polar stars, and the main object of which was 
to be ' the development of the resources of the islands.' 
The development of the resources of India by our own 
nation has shown that, in the process, it may happen 
that the country being developed passes into the 
possession of those most anxious for its good and its 
prosperity; and the same danger threatened the Ha- 
waiian kingdom during the progress of ' The Belgian 
Contract/ For these islands, from their weakness, their 
loneliness of situation, and their desirableness, have 
been for many years past in the condition of the flying- 
fish, which springs out of the wave to avoid a shark, 
and then back into the water to escape from an 
albatross. An escapement has ever been an important 
part of the Hawaiian movement. Happily for the in- 
dependence of the islands Mr. Brinsmade was bound at 
the outset with a provision that ' unless the governments 
of G-reat Britain, France, ^md tlie United States 
acknowledge the sovereignty of the Sandwich Islands 



X 



306 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

government, and accord to it all tlie rights, powers, and 
privileges and immunities of an independent State,' the 
contract of which he was bearer was to be null and 
void. Thus philanthropic feelings, which might have 
sold up the independence of the islands to a foreign 
nation in order to develope their resources, were kept 
in check by political engagements, and one of the most 
complete and minutely organised schemes ever put on 
paper happily fell to the ground. 

Haalilio and Mr. Richards, whose primary mission 
was to obtain a declaration of independence, were 
concerned also in this great trading scheme. The 
latter bore with him the most plenary power of attorney 
from the King, giving him permission to sign for His 
Majesty, and affix the seal of State, with which he was 
intrusted. He could also ' revoke, reclaim, nullify, and 
render void any and every power and document here- 
' tofore given under the King's hand,' &c. &c. In fact, 
the man who began life as a peripatetic trader in the 
United States, who had continued it as a missionary 
in the Pacific, and had passed through the stages of 
legislator and minister, was now, in Europe, carrying 
about with him the powers of a Pope, and had in his 
trowsers pocket the fate of a kingdom. 

The scheme embodied in the Belgian contract was 
unquestionably the work of a man of genius. Brins- 
made had energy and talent, and in the support he had 
afforded the native government in 1837, by his forcible 
writing on the subject of the Roman Catholic priests, 
he had deserved and won its gratitude. His scheme, 
too, was very plausible ; for though its effect would 
have been to have bound the Hawaiian government 
hand and foot, and to have conveyed away the fee 
simnle of the islands piecemeal to foreigners, the 



A JOINT-STOCK COMPANY — UNLIMITED. 3o: 

words 'civilisation' and 'independence' were never 
forgotten or omitted in documents, or in speaking.* 

The contract was drawn up in Brussels, and bore 
date the 17th of May, 1843. It contained three chap- 
ters, subdivided into thirty-three articles; and the 
'Statutes of the Eoyal Community of the Sandwich 
Islands' were conceived in fifty-three articles ; the whole 
being formalized in the strictest notarial manner. The 
foundation of the matter was the concession to the house 
of Ladd and Co. in 1841. It was really a gigantic sale 
of Ladd and Co.'s property, involving all concessions 
and privileges obtained by them, the price for which, 
taken in the contract, was ^1,067,000, or 42,680z! 
The manner of proceeding was, the transfer by Brins- 
made of all property material and immaterial which he 
had power to pass, together with rights and concessions 
over which Mr,. Eichards had power, to the Belgian 
Company of Colonization. The contract or treaty was 
tripartite, the three parties to it being the Kino- of 
Hawaii, represented by Haalilio and Richards ; the house 
of Ladd and Co., acting by Brinsmade ; and the Belgian 
Company of Colonization, by its deputies, the Count of 
Hompesch and M. Joseph Vanderburghen de Binckum. 
The Colonization Company was only instrumental in 
this transaction. . Its office was to organize the ' Royal 
Community of the Sandwich Islands,' and to transfer to 
that society, when formed, the property, rights, and 
titles which it was to possess. The community was, 
however, on its European side, to remain under 'the 
patronage and high administration of the Belgian 

* I have a vivid recollection, in Mr. Brinsmade's intercourse with 
myself upon this and other subjects connected with the islands, how 
fluently such phrases as ' the development of the resources of the 
islands ' always glided from his lips. 

X 2 



308 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Company of Colonization ; whilst in the scene of its acti- 
vity, it would be under the patronage and protection of 
the Hawaiian king. Four interests were to be created 
in the undertaking, namely, the King of Hawaii ; the 
Belgian Colonization Company; the Labourers and 
Employes ; and the Stockholders. The King was to be a 
partner, Mr. Richards to be president. Its objects were, 
beyond relieving Ladd and Co. of their real and doubtful 
possessions at an enormous price, to create an emigration 
to tl^e Sandwich Islands from Europe, and, in the lubri- 
cated language of the 9th article of the contract, * to 
develope as promptly as possible the civilization and 
resources of the Sandwich Islands, by creating agri- 
cultural, manufacturing, and commercial establishments, 
and by instituting commercial relations between these 
islands and Belgium.' To carry out such desirable 
objects, a capital was to be raised, of which the first 
subscription was to consist of 4,000 shares of 1,000 francs 
each, or 4,000,000 francs. The property acquired by 
the Belgian Colonization Company was to be divided 
into 500 titles, 100 of which were to be given to the 
King of Hawaii, so that His Majesty would still possess 
a share of his own country. By the 28th article, ' all 
persons, of whatever profession in the service of the 
community, and introduced into the islands under the 
auspices of the community, with the approbation of the 
King of the Sandwich Islands, shall receive in fee simple 
twenty hectares of land.' By the 27th article, 100 titles 
were set apart to support schools for the children of the 
labourers, a health establishment, an orphanage, and 
pensions for impotent and superannuated employes. It 
would be tedious to enter into further details of the 
complicated machinery of the design; the effect of 
which, had it actually become operative, would have 



EPITOME OF THE BELGIAN CONTEACT. 309 

been to have destroyed the independence of the islands 
and to have gradually vested all property in them in 
the proprietary of the Belgian Company. 

Fortunately for the people of Hawaii, this new South 
Sea scheme never went into operation. The first blow 
which fell on its promoters was the news of Lord Greorcxe 
Paulet's occupation of the islands; then came the 
corroding tooth of delay, and after dragging on till 
October 1844, a new suggestion was made by some 
merchants in Grhent, to reconstruct the plan ' as a purely 
commercial company.' Nothing, however, came of the 
last proposition ; and even Brinsmade's energetic nature 
began to feel the depressing influences of the failure of 
magnificent plans, which at one time seemed so nearly 
arrived at fruition. Mr. Eichards now withdrew from 
all connection with the futile monopoly, having previ- 
ously left Europe for America ; but before leaving, he 
and Haalilio, as the King's commissioners, had given 
their consent to the sale and contract, but the latter did 
so with great reluctance. Brinsmade then turned his 
thoughts, as he did his steps, towards London, where 
he stayed some time, endeavouring to enlist the aid of 
Sir G-eorge Simpson in getting up a joint-stock com- 
pany ; but plans and arguments had now assumed too 
dream-like a character, and Sir George wisely declined 
taking any active part in the matter. Lastly, the very 
means of living and moving in Europe dried up, and 
the sanguine, intelligent scliemer, vanishes from our 
continent. So ended the immediate danger io the 
independence of the islands ; but not to after-troubles 
arising out of the ruined hopes and house of Ladd and 
Co., in Honolulu. The firm was insolvent : the govern- 
ment had afforded it assistance to the extent of its power, 
with the endeavour to uphold its credit and existence. 



3i0 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

as it was still a tradition or a superstition, that in some 
way Ladd and Co. were pillars of church and state, and 
that on them, as on a foundation stone, rested the 
religion, honour, civilization of Hawaii, and, of course, 
the development of her national resources. Notwith- 
standing that one partner, Brinsmade, had been dealing 
with and signing away to the contractors all the property 
the house possessed in the islands, the partners out 
there mortgaged it largely to creditors. In November 
1844, at the time of Brinsmade's expiring efforts in 
England, the Hawaiian government, consulting, how- 
ever, the ruined firm, levied on the property of Ladd 
and Co. : their store was closed by the sheriff, and their 
stock, leases, &c., were sold for the benefit of their 
judgment creditors. From these proceedings originated 
tedious law-suits, mixed with threats and bluster from 
one of the partners of the house. The government had 
made large advances, and now a claim was set up 
against it for the sum of ^^378,000 for alleged illegal 
acts done by it in the matter of the sale, and in pre- 
venting the completion of the Belgian contract. Mr. 
Brinsmade having returned to the islands in 1846, the 
Kino- consented that the claim set up against his 
government should be referred to the arbitration of two 
American residents, and in case of their disagreement, 
to the decision of Commodore Stockton, commanding 
the U.S. naval force in the Pacific, and who was ex- 
pected to arrive shortly at Honolulu : failing him, the 
chief justice of the state of New York to be final 
umpire. The United States government had sent as 
their commissioner to the islands, Mr. Anthony Ten 
Eyck, an experienced lawyer, and he acted as counsel 
for Ladd and Co. in the arbitration, Mr. Eicord appear- 
ing for the Kin^. Examination of witnesses, books, 



PROTRACrED LITIGATION. 311 

&c., consumed many months, and government gave its 
opponent^ free access to the archives of the kin'o-dom for 
all documents and information they required to support 
their ca^e. Seven hundred printed pages of record 
were adduced. An attempt was made to compromise 
the matter, but was unsuccessful. The government was 
willing to cause the protracted strife to cease, and would 
have accepted terms by which Ladd and Co.'s property 
and liabilities should have been assumed by govern- 
ment, and thereby a dividend be secured to all the credi- 
tors; but so much acrimonious feeling, personal and 
political, had been imported into the proceedings as 
shut the door to amicable arrangement, and occasionally 
led to great loss of temper in the counsel on both sides, 
during their contention before the Arbitrators' Court. 
The suit continued till the end of the year 1846, and 
was pursued with much bitterness against the govern- 
ment. And amongst the other items of claim, a de- 
mand was set up by Ladd and Co. against Mr. Jarves, 
editor of the 'Polynesian,' for ^50,000 for injury done 
to the character of Mr. Brinsmade by some short re- 
marks in the government newspaper, and which Mr. 
Brinsmade called hbellous. On the 29th of December, 
the French consul, M. Dudoit, offered his mediation in 
an endeavour to terminate this protracted suit amicably, 
and the offer was accepted by both the weary litigants : 
the attempted arrangement, however, fell through, and 
the unsettled questions are hybernating, probably to 
bud and burgeon again at some future season. 



312 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER XX. 

HISTOEICAL SKETCH THE TREATIES OF COMMERCE AND 

FRIENDSHIP— AND CONSEQUENT HOSTILITIES. 

SEVERAL treaties have been negotiated between the 
Hawaiian and foreign governments. 

The first agreement in order of time, approaching at 
all to a treaty obligation, was made on the 23rd of 
December, 1826, by Captain Ap Catesby Jones, on 
behalf of the United States of America, on the occasion 
of his interference in settling some claims made by 
American citizens upon the Hawaiian government. 
Captain Jones endeavoured to provide some available 
means for settling any future differences, and to prevent 
their recurrence. 

The next written document of the kind was a short 
treaty effected by Captain Lord Edward Russell, on the 
16th of November, 1836, when engaged in arranging 
some old disputes between his countrymen and the 
native authorities. His intention was to avoid future 
disputes, and to promote amity between the subjects of 

the two nations. 

In 1837, Captain Du Petit Thouars negotiated the 
treaty of ' perpetual peace and amity ' already given in 
an earlier part of this volume. It introduced the ' most 



EARLY TREATIES. 313 

favoured nation clause,' but did not allude specifically 
to brandy or bishops. 

The two latter subjects were sufficiently considered 
in the treaty which Captain Laplace procured in July 
1839. Having established a position for the Eoman 
Catholic clergy, the two following articles were framed. 

Art. ly. No Frenchman accused of any crime whatever 
shall be judged otherwise than by a jury composed of foreign 
residents proposed by the Consul of France and accepted by 
the government of the Sandwich Islands. 

Art. VI. French merchandize, or merchandize known to 
be of French origin, and especially wines and brandies, shall 
not be prohibited, nor pay a higher duty than 5 per cent, ad 
valorem. 

The government in giving its constrained consent to 
these oppressive clauses, fully saw the infringement of 
its prerogative, but it saw at the same time its own 
helplessness. 

Grreat Britain having in 1 844 restored the islands, 
which had been conditionally ceded to this country 
through Lord George Paulet, appointed a Consul- 
General to reside at the Hawaiian court, and offered a 
treaty in which the two objectionable articles of La- 
place's treaty were copied and had a place. Efforts 
were immediately made to obtain from the governments 
of England and France, treaties that should be more 
just, equal, and reciprocal. The two European govern- 
ments having by their joint declaration secured the 
independence of the Hawaiian kingdom, concerted 
together new identical treaties, and they were executed 
in Honolulu on the 26th of March, 1846. They each 
contained eight articles. The preamble of both states, 
• — mutatis mutandis — that ' It beina^ desirable that a 
general convention should be substituted for the various 



314 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

instruments of mutual agreement at present existing 
between Great Britain and the Sandwich Islands, the 
following articles have for that purpose and to that 
intent been mutually agreed upon and signed,' &c. &c. 
The first article propounds perpetual peace and amity 
between the reciprocating nations. The third article 
provides for English subjects accused of any crime 
whatever : (the French treaty here makes an important 
variation,—' d\tn crime ou delit qiielconque'), ' They 
are to be judged by a jury composed of native or foreign 
residents, proposed by the Consul of their country, and 
accepted by the government of the Sandwich Islands.' 
This stipulation was an advance on the Laplace article 
in reference to French subjects. 

•It was the sixth article which proved the cradle of 
troubles that lasted as long as the siege of Troy, which 
led to a French invasion, and which have not been 
entirely disposed of to this day. It reads thus :— - 

Goods of France, or those which are recognised as coming 
from French possessions, shall not be prohibited or subjected 
to an import duty higher than 5 per cent, ad valorem. 
Wines, brandies, and spirituous liquors are excepted, and shall 
be liable to any reasonable duty that the government of the 
Sandwich Islands considers it fit to impose ; but on condition 
that such duty shah never be so high as to become an absolute 
prevention to the importation of the said articles. 

The clause from the French treaty is here substituted 
for the corresponding English article, because the small 
imports from France have consisted almost entirely of 
wines and spirits, whilst England is indifferent about 
this kind of merchandize. 

The identical treaties were ratified by Queen Victoria 
on the 8th of October, 1846, and by King Louis Philippe 
on the 18th of November, the same year. 



ENGLISH, FEENCH, AND DANISH TREATIES. 315 

In the autumn of 1846 the Danish frigate ' Gralathea,' 
commanded by Captain Steen Bille, in circumnavigating- 
the globe, under large powers from his government, 
called at the Sandwich Islands. Having during some 
weeks' stay there informed himself of their condition, 
Captain Steen Bille offered an honourable and beneficial 
treaty. This was the first perfectly satisfactory com- 
pact entered into by a foreign nation with the Hawaiian 
kingdom : and whilst it contained all necessary stipula- 
tions for a free and advantageous intercourse^ it did not 
trammel the island government with oppressive clauses 
or ambiguous expressions which an ambidexter might 
afterwards turn to any use he desired. The Hawaiian 
government have always regarded this treaty witli 
pleasure and gratitude, as the initial and model of other 
equitable mutual obligations. 

The Danish treaty was first followed by a treaty in 
almost identical words with the free Hanseatic city of 
Hamburg, dated the 8th of January, 1 848. 

In August 1851, a similar treaty was uegotiated with 
the free Hanseatic city of Bremen. 

Previous in time to the last treaty, the long-desired 
convention with the United States was carried out. It 
is styled * a treaty of friendship, commerce, and naviga- 
tion ; ' and after a preamble profuse in expressions of 
mutual admiration and love, it agrees upon seventeen 
articles, stated in the most ample language, affording a 
strong contrast to the treaties hitherto mentioned. It 
is dated, Washington, the 20th of December, 1849 ; and 
ratifications were exchanged in Honolulu, dated the 
24th of August, 1850. 

On General Miller's appointment as British Consul- 
General, in 1 843, he brought with him to Hawaii the 
draft of a treaty, known as that of Lahaina. In 1851^ 



3i6 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

another treaty, drafted in London, was sent to him, very 
similar to that concluded by the United States. It 
provides for the mutual reception of national ships of 
war in all harbours, rivers, and places ; restricts import 
and export duties to the level of the most favoured 
nation; and provides that the diplomatic agents and 
consuls of the Hawaiian Islands in the dominions of Her 
Britannic Majesty shall enjoy whatever privileges, ex- 
emptions, and immunities, are or shall be granted there 
to agents of the same rank belonging to the most favoured 
nation; with similar enjoyments to the diplomatic and 
consular agents of Grreat Britain in the Hawaiian Islands. 
This treaty is signed on the 10th of July, 1851, and 
ratifications exchanged on the 6th of May, 1852. 

On the 1st of July, 1852, another treaty on the same 
model was signed in Honolulu, by Captain Virgin, 
on behalf of ' the King of Sweden and Norway and of 
the aoths and Vandals.' It was ratified on the 5th of 
April, 1855. The only alteration of importance in this 
compact was in the 15th article, in which it is agreed 
that — 

All vessels bearing the flag of Sweden or of Norway in time 
of war shall receive every possible protection short of actual 
hostility {sic) within the ports and waters of His Majesty the 
King of the Hawaiian Islands ; and His Majesty the King of 
Sweden and Norway engages to respect in time of war the 
neutral rights of the Hawaiian kingdom, and to use his good 
offices with all other powers having treaties with His Majesty 
the King of the Hawaiian Islands, to induce them to adopt the 
same pohcy towards the Hawaiian kingdom. 

It is easily seen how greatly to the advantage of the 
smaller kingdom the foregoing clause was. 

Between the signing of the Swedish treaty and the 
new treaty with France, which bears date the 29th of 



FRENCH GEIEVANCES. 317 

October, 1857, a train of circumstances occurred which 
it will now be our duty to unravel and give some 
account of. They are painful and humiliating. A 
great and powerful nation, set in motion by and acting- 
through its distant agents, bringing its force to bear on 
a small and defenceless people who in its hands are 
but as the mouse which a cat dallies with before givino- 
it a cou'p cle grace with its claw, is not a spectacle to 
be proud of. To know that private feuds and jealousies, 
private follies and imaginary grievances among govern- 
mental and diplomatic officials, led the way to years of 
real trouble and crises of actual danger to the country 
in which they occurred, converts the reader's smile of 
amusement into a frown of impatience and anger. Yet 
all this was the case. France invaded the territory 
and the capital of a friendly nation, to vindicate na- 
tional honour and to protect national interests, when 
all the while the wrong was to the wounded feelings of 
her consular agent; and the interests at stake were 
some difference in rent upon a house the Consul hired 
near the city. Here was the real Briseis in the Hawaiian 
Iliad — hence the gloomy estrangement of the Franco- 
Hibernian Achilles in Polynesia. 

It began to be rumoured that the French treaty was 
not working well ; that France was dissatisfied ; and that 
that great nation felt itself oppressed beyond the powers 
of endurance by certain clauses of the treaty. First 
there was subject of language. Why was not French to 
be used in the diplomacy of Hawaii ? To exclude its 
employment was a pointed insult and wrong done to 
his sovereignty of France. This ought to be altered. 
French must be used equally and identically with 
English ; and all French documents must be read, and 
answers returned to them in the French language, in 



318 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

precisely the same time required for reading and writing 
in Enp'lish. The ' Pourquoi non^ argument is one 
difficult to answer ; but a similar right might as weU 
have been claimed on behalf of the Sanskrit, or for the 

unknown tongue. 

The second grievance was, of course, relative to 
brandy. In the interests of sufficient drinking it was 
asked, why the government should set their face against 
reo-ulated intemperance. Unless a moderate intoxica- 
tion was allowed, how were French interests to be 
protected? The whole thing was certainly a sham. 
Abstinence pledges and Dash-away associations were 
abominations about whose origin we will not enquire, but 
were certainly directed entirely against the Vignerolles 

of sunny France. 

There were a few subsidiary grounds of quarrel se- 
lected, which, like the pleas in a brief after the two first, 
we hastily read, but do not dwell upon or plead. Such 
were the management of Eoman Catholic schools ; im- 
pertment difficulties thrown in the way of the virtuous 
intercourse between French seamen and Hawaiian 
females, and a few others ; but the battle-field chosen 
was language and brandy. 

A community too small to admit of defined political 
parties, in which personal antipathies can range them- 
selves on opposite sides, is capable of no more than 
individual hatred, or, at most, of some irascible cliques. 
Political virulence is an advantage denied to a very 
confined society. The state of parties in Honolulu 
must be judged of as being under these circumstauces. 

The beginning and course of the quarrel, plainly told, 
are as follow:— An uncomfortable state of feeling had 
sprung up within the ministry. Dr. Judd considered that 
by his patronage Mr. Wyllie was helped into office, and 



THE DILLON LETTER. 31 9 

now growing jealous of his protege, he would willingly 
have assisted him to vacate his post. Mr. Dillon, an 
Irishman by parentage, but born in France, had re- 
placed M. Dudoit as French Consul. Mr. Wyllie having 
been a friend of Dudoit's, was, by a sort of necessary 
antithesis, disliked by his successor in the consulate. To 
the immediate antipathy which Mr. Dillon felt towards 
the foreign minister, he added a national jealousy of 
English influence. With these mixed feelings he com- 
posed a remarkable letter addressed to Dr. Judd, dated 
the 1 1th of August, 1848, and which was afterwards pro- 
duced to the privy council and printed. In this letter 
are found many sarcastic and disparaging remarks on 
Mr. Wyllie, who, as Dillon suggested, was endeavouring 
to undermine Dr. Judd, and uproot American influence 
around the King ; and what was perhaps still worse for 
all parties, Mr. Wyllie was misrepresenting everything 
said and written by Dillon, ' as in the case of the ratifi- 
cation of the FreQch treaty ; ' he was conspiring against 
Dillon personally; and had 'joined with Dudoit in 
organising dark and foolish intrigues both in London 
and Paris to the advantage of the latter.' Upon these 
and other grounds, among which the rent and furniture 
of a house are obscurely mixed, Mr. Dillon makes the 
proposal to Dr. Judd to murder (politically) Mr. Wyllie. 
And the text which is to justify this proposition is a 
French proverb which says, 'When the devil attempts 
to k]ll you, be beforehand with him, and kill the devil, 
—if you can.' Mr. Dillon is a diplomatist and a philo- 
sopher. He 'knows what state necessities are, and 
what a diversity of tricks and courses men in office, even 
the purest, may stumble into. He is, therefore, full of 
indulgence.' But he wishes to disabuse Dr. Judd of 
one erroneous impression, viz., 'that the Sandwich 



320 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Islands are a kind of little plnm-pudding wliich France 
is anxious to stick her fork into, and that he (Dillon), 
is the destined instrument of this carving.' 

Now, letters of this kind are dangerous. They were 
particularly so in the case we are narrating; for m the 
first place, the communication fell into the hands oi 
Mr Wyllie himself, and it did not tend to improve the 
writer's place in his estimation ; and, secondly, it failed 
to convert Dr. Judd into the conspirator which was 
intended, but had another effect, that of making him 
most huno-ry to know what machinations were bemg 
plotted against himself; so that the letter, missing its 
mark, was like a narcotic, which, if it fail to produce 
sleep, makes the patient doubly restless. 

Dr Judd, eager to make discoveries in the cabal, 
directed, as he puts it, against the government (for as 
he considered himself inseparable from government, any 
wrong to himself was an injury to the powers that be), 
-committed the serious indiscretion of bribing one 
Peacock, a printer, to abstract some MSS. from the 
office of the newspaper in opposition to the native 
P'overnment. The act was more detestable than a crime, 
it was a blunder. It immediately placed all the foreign 
representatives in arms ; they entered their protest to the 
King ao-ainst the unscrupulous minister of finance, and 
proceeded to a step opposed to all international pro- 
priety, that of advising the King to dismiss his mmisters. 
To Mr. Dillon the time seemed now arrived for finding 
and working a French grievance ; and the two clauses 
in the late treaty, those which concerned language and 
spirits appeared the proper materials for a quarrel, and, 
if necessary, a casus belli. 

The quarrel prospered to a wish. lU-will grew up 
vigorously. Mr. Wyllie and Mr. Dillon darted their 



A FBENCH INYASION. 32 1 

goose-quill javelins at one another, till each adversary 
was brought to the last degree of irritation ; and at last 
the epoch arrived for invoking French interference. 
Accordingly in August 1849, Admiral de Tromelin 
arrived off Honolulu, in the French steam corvette 
'Gassendi.' Another blunder was committed. The 
Admiral requested an audience of the King, which was 
unwisely refused ; and the former landed his forces, took, 
and occupied the fort, locked, and placed guards before 
the public offices, doing a great deal of damage during 
these proceedings, and carried off the royal yacht. One 
act of triumph he could not, however, accomplish. The 
Hawaiian national colours waved high above the fort • 
and as no native could be induced to lower them, the 
standard of the vanquished, ' like a tall bully, reared 
its head and lied,' above the occuppng conquerors. 

The few words which have been hitherto spoken 
about the French Eoman Catholic missionaries, were 
generally those of approbation. Some political crooked- 
nesses were swallowed up in their earnest and self-deny- 
ing labours among the ignorant and poor people. The 
same tone cannot be continued in relation to the part 
the mission took in this humiliating struggle. They 
greatly abetted Mr. Dillon in the concoction of his 
charges against the government of unfair dealing towards 
France; and the jealousy which they had cherished in 
secret about school-management now gave evidence of 
its intensity and of its unreasonableness. 

Towards a solution of the pending difficulties, a con- 
ference on board the ' Gassendi ' was proposed. The 
King appointed for his commissioners the offending 
Dr. Judd, and Chief Justice Lee ; Mr. Hopkins attend- 
ing as secretary. On the Admiral's part were the 
French Consul, Mr. Dillon, M. Jam, commander of the 



322 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

frigate ' Poursuivant,' and the Admiral's secretary, M. 
Erguieo. A report of what took place on that mem- 
orable occasion has been printed at length. On the 
French side the tone of de havt en has prevailed gene- 
rally; and diplomatic amenities were not always re- 
garded. Thus Admiral Tromelin says on one occasion, 
°l should be considered an officer that had no firmness, 
if I return without having settled the matter. I must 
have either a pleasant arrangement, or else put this 
country at war with France.' Upon which Mr. Dillon 
courteously remarks, ' You must remember that we, 
and French officers in general, are not picked up in a 
field and sent off at once as ambassadors ; we have a 
known character, and higher powers.' The Admiral 
continues, ' If you refuse to alter the treaty in regard to 
brandy, we cannot go into any discussion on the point. 

The proposal which the commissioners had to make 
was that the treaty disputes should be referred to 
France, to be settled with a commissioner sent from 
Hawaii ; an umpire to be chosen if the referees could 
not come to an understanding. This proposal was re- 
fused for some time, but at the end of the conference 
something of the kind was agreed upon ; and in con- 
clusion the King's commissioners placed in the Admiral's 
hands a document to the following effect : — 

The King is perfectly wiUing to fully fulfil and execute the 
treaty of the 26th of March, 1846, according to the interpre- 
tation which the two nations who jointly proposed it may 
jointly agree to give it, in all its parts; but without prejudice 
to the new treaty that His Majesty's special plenipotentiary 
may negotiate with France, the United States, and Great 



* Appendix to Eeport of the Minister of Foreign Kelations, p. 85. 



THE STORM PASSSS OYEB. 323 

Britain, placing the three nations upon a footing of exact 
equality, in all respects. 

(Signed) G. P. Judd. 
Wm. L. Lee. 
Charles G. Hopkins, Secretary.* 

The French invasion was thus terminated. It is a 
matter almost of certainty that the unhappy situation 
just described would never have been brought about 
had Mr. Perrin, who concluded the treaty of the 26th 
March, 1846, been sent out instead of Mr. Dillon in 
1847. Mr. Perrin on leaving Hawaii proceeded to 
Tahiti, and thence to Paris; and he had with him 
sufficient documents for elucidating his own treaty, and 
for explaining and amending those points in it which 
proved such unjust restrictions on the free actions and 
rights of the Hawaiian government. Unfortunately 
Mr. Dillon was accredited as Consul of France, and his 
particular temperament and egotism led the way to all 
the mischief. It is proper to add that the difficulties 
were much increased, and ill-will greatly fomented by 
the violent part taken by the total-abstinence party in 
the islands. 

The reference of the disputed treaty to Paris, had 
for its fruit a project for a new convention : and Mr. 
Perrin was empowered in September 1852 by the 
Prince President of the French Eepublic to proceed to 
Honolulu as plenipotentiary, consul, and commissioner, 
to negotiate a new treaty with Hawaii. Nothing can 
be more conciliatory than the preamble of the Power, 
in which the motive of the new compact was stated to 
be the desire ' to draw closer and closer the relations 
of friendship between France and the Hawaiian govern- 
ment, and to regulate the commercial intercourse 

* Appendix, p. 100. 
Y 2 



324 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

established between the two countries.' The new treaty 
mth Great Britain had already been concluded— 10th 
of July, 1851 ; and also that with the United States m 
1850. 'The way was thus paved for a more enlarged 
and considerate dealing with the distant and defenceless 
people who were anxious to be on good terms with 
their great and sometimes crotchety neighbours. 

It was not till July 1855 that preliminaries were 
arranged for negotiating this new treaty. The King 
empowered Mr. Wyllie, Minister of Foreign Kelations, 
in connection with Mr. Allen, Minister of Finance, to 
act in his behalf in this important and protracted affair. 
The treaty itself bears date the 29th of October, 1857, 
and is signed by Mr. Wyllie, Mr. Perrin, and by Prince 
Kamehameha, in the place of Mr. Allen. It contams 
twenty-seven articles, and was the result of twenty-two 
lengthened conferences. The Hawaiian commissioners 
fought hard against those articles which infringed on 
the'^King's dignity, or encroached on national freedom ; 
and the final inducement with them to sign a document 
which they did not like in many of its stipulations, was 
the agreement for an additional secret article, ad refer- 
endum, which would keep the door open for emendations 
and ameliorations. Besides which, the promise of 
Mr. Perrin had great weight. He engaged that he would 
support in Paris the scheme for a general political 
treaty with all nations, to be negotiated thereunder the 
auspices of the Emperor. From that engagement, how- 
ever, Mr. Perrin, after the ratification of the treaty, 
receded. He would probably have had little weight in 
Paris— still less with Europe. 

The treaty on completion was referred to the Privy 
Council, who reported on it to the King unfavourably. 
They objected, first and generally, because ' several of its 



OBJECTIONS TO THE NEW FRENCH TEEATY. 325 

provisions were of a character derogatory to the Kino-'s 
dignity and rightful authority as. the constitutional 
sovereign of an independent state, and as interfering 
with the undoubted right of free legislation which 
belongs alike to every independent nation, whether 
great or small.' The council then proceeded through 
its provisions in detail, stumbling in limine over that 
awkward stone, the official use of the French languao-e. 
Next came the 10th article, limiting the amount of 
duties on wines and spirits. They could not fail to see 
the uselessness of restrictions which would not affect 
France, because France was scarcely bringing any goods 
to Hawaii, whilst they affected very greatly the freedom 
of government in dealing with questions of excise, 
revenue, and internal police. In the fifteen years from 
1845 to 1859 inclusive, the total imports from all parts 
of the world have been ^14,800,000 in value ; of which 
the goods from French ports direct were less in amount 
than 1^72,000, i.e., less than one-half per cent, of the 
whole! And in the three years 1857, 1858, 1859, the 
importations from direct French ports were nothing ! 

The council remarked on the want of reciprocity in 
the article relating to rights and privileges of residence, 
commerce, and navigation; on the subject of adminis- 
tration of intestate estates ; on the loss of jurisdiction in 
civil and criminal matters concerning the captains and 
crews of French vessels in Hawaiian ports and waters. 
They objected to it on the ground that the treaty 
rendered necessary the repeal or modification of many 
existing laws ; also on the ground of the expense and 
loss of revenue involved in some of its provisions ; the 
article of French translation being estimated to necessi- 
tate a cost of ^5,000 or ^^6,000 per anoum ; on the 
subject of exemption of consuls and the whole consular 



326 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

staff from appearing as witnesses in courts of justice. 
They objected to the treaty, because its provisions were 
so numerous and complicated, and its language in 
several places so dubious as not to be easily understood, 
&c. &c. And finally the council objected that the 
treaty did not accord with the letter and spirit of the 
powers granted by the King to his plenipotentiaries. 
They therefore respectfully, in the discharge of their 
duties, advised His Majesty not to ratify the treaty. 

This document was signed by three native and two 
naturalized foreign Privy Councillors, the first signa- 
ture being that of Governor Kekuanaoa, the King's 

father. 

A serious difficulty had arisen. The labours of more 
than two years were rendered nugatory, and the treaty 
was wrecked on the bar of its port. Throughout the 
conferences, it is plain, the King's commissioners had 
been making a fighting retreat ; they had used and ex- 
hausted every argument, and but seldom gained a 
substantial advantage. How exhaustive Mr. Wyllie's 
reasoning was, and how ample his illustration, is seen 
in his fence about the French language. A memo- 
randum prepared by him ' for so much of the discus- 
sion in 1855, with Mr. Perrin, as relates to parity of 
the French with the English language,' commences 

thus : — 

'The original language spoken by Adam and the 
prediluvian race of man, if not the post-diluvian Hebrew, 
has disappeared. So have the languages of the ancient 
Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldees, Persians, and even of 
the Romans and the Grreeks.' 

If ancient precedents would have touched the French 
diplomatist's heart, or moved him from his steady pur- 
pose, here he surely should have given way :— but it is 



RATIFICATION OF THE FRENCH TREATY. 327 

evident that, the production of the grammar of the 
Proselenes would have been disregarded by that 
impassive negotiator. 

More preliminaries to final Protocols, more letters, 
more opportunities for expressing the high considera- 
tion, &C., a little, almost imperceptible, pressure of the 
screw, the political threat expressed in the most oblique 
manner, a little more retreating done, a la mode of the 
Parthian horsemen, who ' wound us as they fly,' some 
reference, if we mistake not, to King David's messengers, 
whom Hanum the son of Nahash treated so ignominiously 
in respect to their beards and their clothing ; — finally, 
the sop of a secret article, and the thing was accom- 
plished. The treaty was ratified on the 7th September, 
1858 : but still ad referendum, as to the additional 
article. What has taken place since, what is taking 
place still, is not yet ripe for history. Suffice it to say, 
that the additional secret article was not ratified in 
Paris, and that the import duties stand at the present 
day and for ten years after the date of this treaty, as 
follows : — For lo w-class French wines known by the 
name of ' vins de cargaison,^ a maximum duty of 5 per 
cent, ad valorem on invoice cost ; for wines of less than 
18 per cent, alcoholic strength, the maximum duty of 
15 per cent, ad valorem. Duty on brandy not to 
exceed three dollars per gallon. 



828 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

HISTOEICAL SKETCH — REIGN OF KAMEHAMEHA IT. 

THE decline of missionary influence in the Hawaiian 
government constitutes the opening of a new era in 
its history. Still leaning on foreign support, both in the 
legislative and administrative capacities, the nation has 
escaped the leading-strings in which it was long held 
by American teachers of religion, who became amateur 
law-makers and constitution-manufacturers. Acting 
from the same instincts which led Russia to draw to its 
court the talent of more advanced nations and to use it 
in all departments, the Hawaiian Cabinet is composed 
of British, American, and native elements ; and natural- 
ized subjects from England and the United States take 
their part in the Houses of Nobles and Representatives. 
P'rom exclusive missionary influence the Hawaiian 
nation has escaped : the influence now exercised upon 
it has probably a useful and corrective function. 

In the year 1850, during the reign of Kamehameha 
III., Prince Alexander Liholiho, whom the King had 
adopted and appointed for his successor, accompanied 
by his brother, Prince Kamehameha, with Dr. Judd for 
Mentor, visited Europe. During their short visit they 
were introduced to the late deeply- lamented Prince 
Consort ; in the drawing-room of the Duchess of Suther- 




iK^mmMM. 



MA II^'o 




> 



princes' visit to EUROPE. 329 

land tliey had glimpses of the highest English society; 
and in Paris they received flattering attentions. As 
those gems which have basked in the effulgence of a 
tropical sun are said, afterwards, in colder climates and 
in darkness, to emit rays of that imprisoned light, the 
impressions received in Europe appear to have been 
sealed indelibly on the Prince's nature, and to have 
tinged the whole tenour of thought and aim of this pair 
of royal brothers in their after-life. In returning to 
their country through the United States, an insulting 
slight, received in public, produced an opposite but 
as ineffaceable effect upon their minds. 

In May 1847 the King announced to his legislature 
that through Captain Steen Bille he had made a treaty 
with the King of Denmark. This was important as 
being the first regular treaty of friendship and com- 
merce negotiated between the Hawaiian kingdom and 
other governments, and it was followed by other treaties 
which have been enumerated in the preceding chapter. 
The King in the same speech informed the houses that 
such relations as subsisted with other nations were of 
the most friendly kind. 

In 1848 died Mr. Eichards, who has been frequently 
mentioned. At the time of his death he occupied the 
position of Minister of Public Instruction. The same 
year a treaty was concluded with the city of Hamburg. 
It being seen that the tenure of land as it existed was 
very embarrassing, a division of lands was amicably 
effected between the King and his konohikis, and the 
tenure was much simplified. The King set apart a 
certain number of lands (^estates or domains) to be the 
property of the chiefs and people, reserving to himself 
a portion of lands as his own private property, to descend 
to his heirs in perpetuity. 



330 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

In August 1849, difficulties arose with the French 
republic, originating in acts done by French officers at 
the islands. These troubles have been sufficiently 
treated of in the previous chapter, and need not again 
be entered upon. In order to set himself right with 
the French government, and to arrange the impending 
question, the King despatched his Minister of Finance, 
Mr. Judd, as plenipotentiary to Paris. He had, previ- 
ously to the French quarrel, appointed Mr. Jarves, as 
special commissioner to the United States, Great Britain, 
and France, for the purpose of explaining to those 
governments the impartiality of his foreign policy, and 
the desirableness of their concurrence in adopting 
treaties precisely similar, with the Hawaiian kingdom, 
and of their giving a mutual engagement to respect its 
neutrality, and to lay down for their agents in the king- 
dom rules which might prevent jealousies among them- 
selves, insure their respect to the laws, and forbid their 
secret or open interference with the internal affairs of 
the country. Mr. Jarves being detained too long in 
America by some private affairs, and the French 
aggression having commenced, he was superseded in his 

mission by Mr. Judd. 

The King, in referring to the distribution of lands 
which was carried out in June 1848, remarks that in 
surrendering the greater portion of the royal domain to 
his chiefs and people, the reservation he had made to 
support the fort and garrison of the capital and for his 
private use, was in lieu of his right inherited from his 
predecessors of a share in all the lands of the whole 
islands. Under the former tenure, all lands, to whom- 
soever donated, were revocable at will ; no man's posses- 
sion, even that of the highest chief, was secure, and 
the effect of such a tenure was that no man thought of 



LAST SPEECHES OF KAMEHAMEHA III. 331 

improving land, the possession of which was so un- 
certain. This great bar to improvement was now 
removed, and to afford still further protection to the 
poorer people, the Bang, with his chiefs and privy 
council concurring, had come to certain resolutions 
which would give to industrious cultivators of the soil 
an allodial title to the portions they occupied, and 
would facilitate the acquisition of land in fee simple, by 
others inclined to be industrious. 

In the same speech, April 10th, 1850, the King, with 
the object of rendering the people industrious and 
provident, recommends tlie institution of a Savings' 
Bank. He also proposes for the consideration of legis- 
lature, the project for a new criminal code, which had 
been prepared. 

About the end of the year 1852, there were grounds 
for believing that a filibustering expedition was being 
prepared in California, for the invasion of the islands. 
The King issued a proclamation on the subject, and 
claimed the aid of the United States commissioners, and 
the danger passed by. In allusion to such attempts, 
the King said : ' It is my anxious desire so to govern 
my subjects, as that no one can expect to benefit himself 
by any political change. With that view, I voluntarily 
and freely granted the constitution of 1840; and I am 
ready to grant another now, for the good of my people.' 

In the last speech the King made, on the assembHng 
of the nobles and representatives, April 8th, 1854, His 
Majesty began by expressing thanks to the Almighty 
for 'the cessation of the frightful pestilence which had 
during part of the past year and of the present, carried 
to the grave so many thousands of the people, notwith- 
standing all the efforts made by the government and 
commissioners of health, aided by the zealous and 



332 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

gratuitous labours of the resident physicians, surgeons, 
and other philanthropic individuals.' 

The last public document issued under the King's 
hand, was a proclamation dated the 8th December, 
1854, against an annexation attempt and design to 
overthrow the government. If such a new peril was 
really imminent, it was by timely action crushed in the 

bud. 

A few days after making this proclamation, the King 
died, at the age of forty-two, having reigned thirty 
years. Though not a remarkable man, Kamehameha 
was a man of the people. He was a true Hawaiian in 
his good qualities, and even in his faults. He was true 
to Hawaii in every act of his maturer life, after he had 
escaped those evil influences which surround princes in 
every nation, and which in his ca^e seemed designed 
with the diabolical intention of making shipwreck of 
his body and mind. But love of his country was the 
guiding-star which enabled him to rise above the waves ; 
and he carried out faithfully every intention of his own, 
every suggestion of others, when the advantage of 
Hawaii was concerned. Though assuming his father's 
name, Kamehameha, he was, and is better known in his 
own country by the first in the list of his formidable 
appellations. His names in full were Kauikaeouli 
Kaleiopapa Kuakamanolani, Mahinalani Kalaninui- 
waiakua, Keaweawealaokalani,— a good specimen of the 
composite character of the native language. The King's 
only two children died in his lifetime; and being child- 
less, he adopted as his son and heir, Alexander Liboliho, 
son of Kinau, daughter of Kamehameha I., t>y Governor 
Kekuanaoa, and therefore grandson to the conqueror. 
In private life, says the obituary, the King was mild, kind, 
affable, generous, and forgiving— never more happy than when 



ACCESSION OF KAMEHAMEHA IV. 3.'^3 

free from the cares and trappings of State. It is hardly pos- 
sible to conceive a king more generally beloved than was his 
late Majesty ; more universally obeyed," or more completely 
sovereign in the essential respect of independent sovereignty, 
that of governing his subjects free from any influence or con- 
trol coming from beyond the limits of his own jurisdiction. 

Although this passage has a strong smack of the 
' Court Newsman ' about it, it may be said with certainty, 
that the King was greatly beloved by his people, and 
that amidst many difficulties and discouragements, his 
reign was a good one, and under it the nation made a 
great advance. 

Prince Liholiho was proclaimed king under the name 
of Kamehameha IV., on the 15th of December, 1854. 
He was then just twenty-one years of age, and came to 
the throne with more preparation, and under better 
auspices, than his royal predecessor. ' Chiefs,' said the 
young King, in his short and manly address to the 
privy council, * I have become, by the will of Grod, your 
fath(!r, as I have been your child. You must help me, 
for I stand in need of help.' 

On the 11th of January, 1855, the King took the 
oath prescribed by the Constitution, in the following 
form : 

I solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, to 
maintain the constitution of the kingdom whole and inviolate 
and to govern in conformity with that and the laws. 

He then addressed his subjects in the native tongue. 
The address was solemn and eloquent, and from its 
being pronounced in the Hawaiian language, is far 
more valuable than an English speech prepared by his 
ministers in English would have been. It is too lono- 
for quotation entire, but a few passages may be quoted 



334 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

from the translation given in the ' Polynesian ' of the 
13th of January : — 

Give ear, Hawaii o Keawe ! Maui o Kama ! Oahu o Kui- 
hewa ! Kauai o Mano ! * 

The good, the generous, the kind-hearted Kamehameha is 
now no more. Our great chief has fallen ! but though dead 
he still lives. He lives in the hearts of his people ! He lives 
in the liberal, the just, and the beneficent measures which it was 
always his pleasure to adopt. His monuments rise to greet us 
on every side. They may be seen in the church, in the 
school-house, and the hall of justice; in the security of our 
persons and property ; in the peace, the law, the order, and 
general prosperity that prevail throughout the islands. He was 
the friend of the Makaainana,t the father of his people ; and 
so long as a Hawaiian lives, his memory will be cherished ! 

By the death of Kamehameha III., the chain that carried us 
back to the ancient days of Kamehameha I. has been broken. 
He was the last child of that great chieftain : but how unlike 
the father from whom he sprang ! Kamehameha I. was born for 
the age in which he lived, the age of war and of conquest. The 
age of Kamehameha HI. was that of progress and of liberty 
-lof schools and civilization. He gave us a constitution and 
fixed laws; he secured the people in the title to their lands, 
and removed the last chain of oppression. He gave them a 
voice in his councils, and in the making of the laws by which 
they are governed. He was a great national benefactor, and 
has left the impress of his mild and amiable disposition on the 
age for which he was born. 
° To-day we begin a new era. Let it be one of increased 
civilization— one of decided progress, mdustry, temperance, 
morality, and all those virtues which mark a nation's progress. 
The importance of unity is what I most wish to impress upon 
your minds. Let us be one, and we shall not fall ! 

* It is impossible to render into English this ancient form of invo- 
cation to the four principal islands of the group, 
t The common people. 



A YIGOROUS BEGINNING. 335 

In these and the remaining parts of the speech, the 
translator will no doubt have considerably anglicised 
the language, and possibly the editor may have improved 
upon the translator : but that the young King had ac- 
quired the habit of thinking in English is apparent, by 
the impromptu remarks which he addressed in that lan- 
guage to the foreign listeners then present, when it was 
suggested to him to do so. 

Among other things the King said : 

I cannot fail to heed the example of my ancestors. I there- 
fore say to the foreigner that he is Avelcome. He is welcome 
to our shores — welcome so long as he comes Avith the laudable 
motive of promoting his OAvn interests and at the same time re- 
specting those of his neighbour. But if he comes here with no 
more exalted motive than that of building up his own interests 
at the expense of the native— to seek our confidence only to 
betray it — with no higher ambition than that of overthrowing 
our government, and introducing anarchy, confusion, and 
bloodshed — then is he most unwelcome ! 

On the 7th of April the King opened the session of 
legislature with a speech, longer than that which is 
heard from the throne of England, but considerably 
shorter than the message of the President of the United 
States. The several topics touched on, show the 
advance which was taking place. The office of Kuhina 
JS^ui, or Premier, was separated from that of the 
Ministry of the Interior. To the former post the King 
appointed his sister, the Princess Victoria Kamamalu. 
His brother, the Prince Kamehameha, occupied the 
position held by the King before his accession, of 
Commander in Chief. Mr. Lee, the chief justice and 
chancellor, had been sent on a mission to the United 
States, where he attended to some practical matters 
tending to the improvement of Honolulu, &c. Certain 



336 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

proposed changes in the department of Public Instruc- 
tion were to be submitted to legislature ; the national 
finances required to be enlarged; the duties on spirituous 
liquors to be reconsidered. Attention was to' be turned 
to the state of agriculture, and means taken to procure 
some approach to equilibrium between imports and 
exports, the latter of which, consisting principally of 
sugar, coffee, and tobacco, were very much in defect. 
The decreasing numbers of the population were feelingly 
and seriously alluded to. ' It is a subject,' said the 
King, ' in comparison with which all others sink into 
insignificance; — our acts are in vain unless we stay 
the wasting hand that is destroying our population. I 
feel a heavy and special responsibility resting on me 
in this matter.' The King then recommends to the 
consideration of the legislature the establishment of 
public hospitals, and this is the first germ of the noblest 
institution possessed by the Hawaiian people, the 
present Queen's Hospital. Disappointment is ex- 
pressed at the result of Chinese coolie emigrants, and it 
is suggested that an immigration from other Polynesian 
groups should be encouraged in preference, as more 
congeDial in ideas and language, and more easily 

acclimated. 

The session disagreeing on the Bill of Supplies, the 
Kino- exercised his prerogative of dissolving the houses, 
on the 16th of June, and convening legislature afresh 
six weeks afterwards. 

The King had addressed letters announcing the 
death of his royal predecessor to Her Britannic Majesty; 
the Emperor of the French, the Emperor of Eussia ; 
the Kings of Denmark, Prussia, and Sweden and 
Norway ; and to the Presidents of the United States, 
Hamburg, Bremen, Chile, and Peru. Thus did the 



THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION. 337 

little kingdom dwelling far away from the nations of 
Europe, keep itse]/ in correspondence, and claim its 
brotherhood, with them. 

To maintain his foreign relations, the King was 
represented abroad by diplomatic or consular agents 
in Paris, in London, in the chief ports of Grreat Britain, 
in Copenhagen, Hamburg, Bremen, New York and 
other places in the United States, at Lima, Valparaiso, 
San Francisco, at Canton, Hongkong, in the Friendly, 
Fiji, and Navigators Islands; at Sydney, Melbourne,' 
and other places ; and he had a political commissioner 
to the independent states and tribes of Polynesia and 
Tasmxania. 

The administration, originally containing five depart- 
ments, has been redistributed into three portfolios and 
an attorney-general. 

That of the Interior is held by Dr. F. W. Hutchison, 
and it includes the Bureau of Public Improvements; 
Foreign Eolations by M. C. de Varigny, who is also' 
charged with the duties of Secretary at War ; Finance 
by Mr. C. C. Harris. Public instruction is no longer 
a ministry, and its President reports to the department 
of Interior. The Cabinet office of Attorney-General is 
at present vacant. 

Mr. E. A. Allen is Chief Justice. The ' Hawaiian 
Grazette ' is avowedly the organ and mouthpiece of the 
government, announcing and advocating its views. In 
its columns the government makes official announce- 
ments, or gives semi-official intimations. At the close 
of the year 1861, the office of director of the press was 
abolished. 

About ten years ago the Hawaiian Agricultural 
Society was founded; an institution which has already 
been of very great service in the islands. It ranks amon< 



z 



338 HAWAIIAN ISLAl^DS. 

its members Dr. Hillebrand, Mr. Grreen, and other men 
of enlightened mind and extensive scientific knowledge. 
It promotes among the people the knowledge of natural 
laws, and gives advice on the several subjects which 
the large name of agriculture embraces; it imports 
seeds, plants, and animals, and maintains a small ex- 
perimental garden and arboretum for acclimatization, 
&c. At the opening of the Native Hawaiian Agricul- 
tural Society, a sister institution, on the 5th of January, 
1856, the late King, as President, made a remarkable and 
very interesting speech, in the native language. This 
address was taken down in short-hand and translated 
into English. In doing this, the reporter naively says. 

The difficulty of taking short-hand notes in English of what 
is being said in the native dialect, the construction of which is 
peculiar, a sentence often beginning at the end, and ending m 
the middle, must be our apology for doing so httle justice to 
the eloquent language and sound common-sense ideas expressed 
by the President. 

On that occasion His Majesty said : 

One of the greatest prospective advantages we see in the 
assiduous pursuit of agriculture is the reformation it would 
work among the people. It is not in the ranks of modern 
farmers that you must look for the most ignorant and immoral 
men. We all know that when an individual enters upon an 
undertaking, of the mode to accomplish which he is ignorant, 
he applies for information where it may be found, having 
learnt that a man unqualified for his task must fail in it. 
Having acquired thus much experience, and being solicitous 
for the prosperity and happiness of his children, he wiU on no 
account omit sending them to school, so that they may not be 
trammelled in after-years by ignorance, as their father was. 
Thus the rising generation. The children find themselves, on 



THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIEfe. 339 

Starting in life, possessed of the information necessary to suc- 
cess; whereas their father had to struggle on his way in the 
midst of darkness and misapprehension. Suppose a step, 
similar to the one I have described, were made by the young 
people from one end of the islands to the other. Would not 
ignorance give way to intelligence? Would not darkness 
become light ? Would not inexpertness succumb to profi- 
ciency ?^ The general result could only be a largely-increased 
sum of individual and national prosperity. 

The King spoke of the particular advantages of cli- 
mate with which the Hawaiian Islands are favoured :— 

Who ever heard of winter upon our shores ? When was it 
so cold that the labourer could not go to his field ? Where 
among us shall we find the numberless drawbacks which in less 
flivoured countries the working classes have to contend with ? 
They have no place in our beautiful group, which rests on the 
swelling bosom of the Pacific like a water-lily. With a 
tranquil heaven above our heads, and a sun that keeps his 
jealous eye upon us every day, whilst his rays are so tempered 
that they never wither prematurely what they have warmed 
into life, we ought to be agriculturists in heart as well as 
practice. 

The royal speaker then proceeds to point out the ills 
arising from a foolish hospitality, which is extended 
everywhere, towards the lazy and good-for-nothing 
equally with those who are worthy of hospitality. Thus a 
class of strong, idle young men, went ^loafing' about the 
country— nati consumere fruges—not ashamed to ap- 
propriate in any house the scanty meal which had been 
provided by hard labour, but which was never denied 
to any who claimed hospitality. 

I am well aware, says the King, that the sharing of food with 
every stranger and visitor that comes along, is dignified with 
the name of ancient Hawaiian hospitality. I now tell you it is 



z 2 



340 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

not true hospitality. Can that hospitality be correct in theory 
or practice which sends old men and sick men to work under a 
hotsun, whilst lusty young people lieinthe house playing cards? 
At present we are a poor people, for the surplus produced by 
the few who work is consumed by the many who claim at their 
hands the rights of your boasted hospitality. Never close your 
doors on those who are hungry through sickness, misfortune, 
or the wrongs they have received ; but, on the other hand, 
never help those who are too lazy to help themselves. 

Thus the young King, as the father of his people, 
gave humane advice to his subjects, preaching from the 
text of the cultivation of the soil ; and his suggestions 
were none the less benevolent on account of the strong 
common sense which prompted them and clothed them 
in words. He tries to check another common fault, 
that of impatience for results. He deprecates the dream 
in which too many of the people indulged, that of 
supposing that a fortune was to be acquired in a very 
short time. He tells them that want of perseverance is 
the cause of their non-success, when much is in their 
favour— when their patches of land are granted to them 
by law, and their hands not tied either by natural or 

artificial bonds. 

This address we are told was listened to by the royal 
speaker's audience with great earnestness, and from 
time to time subdued expressions of ' Oiaio no '— ' True, 
true,' broke from different parts of the house. 

Besides the two allied agricultural societies, other 
institutions sprang up ; a Chamber of Commerce, a 
Chapter and Lodge of Freemasons, the King himself 
being Grand Master of the Progres de I'Oceanie. This 
fanciful and mystical name itself speaks that love of 
progress which has shown itself so strongly in the 
dynasty of Kamehameha; and young as his present 



THE KING'S MARRIAGE. 34 1 

Majesty was when he came to the throne, he immedi- 
ately began to develope the family tradition, and an- 
nounced himself the man of advance. 

On the 19th of June, 1856, the King married Emma, 
daughter of Naea, a chief lineally descended from the 
ancient kings of Hawaii. Her Majesty's mother, Fanny 
Kekela, is the daughter of the famous Englishman, John 
Young, the right hand of Kamehameha I., and whom 
the conqueror delighted to honour. Queen Emma has 
consequently one-fourth part English blood in her veins, 
the remaining stream being high and pure Hawaiian! 
Young, who in native is called Keoni Ana, married the 
high female chief Kaoanaeha. As a child Her Majesty 
was adopted by Dr. Eooke, a physician residing in the 
islands ; and both by her education and natural dispo- 
sition, is eminently adapted to sustain the place she fills 
with grace and dignity. She was, moreover, the earnest 
seconder of her royal husband in every patriotic design 
for the welfare and advancement of their people. 

On the 3rd of November in the year of his marriage, 
the King issued a proclamation, which had become' 
customary, calling his subjects' thoughts to thankfulness 
for the blessings their land had enjoyed during the 
year ; and recommending that on Christmas-day, those 
not unprepared feelings should find expression in acts 
of public thanksgiving. There is something very sweet 
and primitive in such an observance. A young king, 
not so much in the character of a patriarch as that of 
the elder brother of a wide-spread family, beaming with 
newly-acquired domestic happiness, and calling'^upon 
all his great household to choose a day for thankful 
retrospection,— to rejoice and be glad in it; that day 
too, when all the world is invited to hail the rising of 
the Sun of Eighteousness, with healing in His wings. 



342 HAWAIIAN' ISLANDS. 

'Whereas,' says the proclamatifii, 'during the year now 
drawing to a close, we have enjoyed as a people, numerous and 
great blessings; peace and tranquillity have prevailed through- 
out our islands; we have been not only free from dangers 
from abroad, but have continued to enjoy the most friendly 
assurances of protection in our independence from the most 
powerful governments in the world ; although the times have 
been hard through the scarcity of money, and our people have 
suffered from a drought almost unparalleled, neither our agri- 
culture nor commerce has entirely failed; both begin to 
revive ; perhaps we have never enjoyed a year of more general 
health ; our laws have been sustained ; religion and education 
have been free and prosperous. For all of which numerous 
and invaluable blessings we owe, as a nation, a formal, general, 
and heartfelt tribute of thanksgiving to the Almighty, on whose 
favour all prosperity, whether individual or national, depends.' 

On the 20th of May, 1858, Her Majesty gave birth 
to a son, to the very great delight and happiness of all 
classes. Apart from parental joy, the event was auspi- 
cious as promising to continue a regular succession to 
the throne in the present family. The following day, 
all the separate services and orders, soldiers and minis- 
ters, native subjects and foreign consuls, hastened to 
offer their sincere congratulations at the palace; the 
King replying to each address in feeling and appropriate 
expr^essions. On the 29th, royal letters patent were 
issued, constituting and declaring the style and title of 
the heir-apparent to be ' His Eoyal Highness the Prince 
of Hawaii.' On the 3rd of October, 1859, at an extra- 
ordinary session of the House of Nobles held at the 
palace 'in contemplation of a vacancy in the chief 
executive office, at all times liable to occur,' the King 
called attention to the importance of having the succes- 
sion to the crown definitely estabHshed in a constitu- 
tional manner ; and he then designated his infant son 



BIRTH OF THE PRINCE OF HAWAII. 343 

his heir and successor to the throne. The followino- 
proclamation was issued the same day : — 

Kamehameha IV., of the Hawaiian Islands King, to all our 
loving subjects and others to whom these presents shall come, 
greeting : — 

Be it known that We, in concurrence with our House of 
Nobles, hereby appoint and proclain Our son, His Eoyal 
Higlmess the Prince of Hawaii, to be Our Successor and 
Heir to the Hawaiian Throne. 

Done at Our palace, at Honolulu, this third day of October, 
in the year of our Lord 1859, and the fifth year of Our 



reign. 



(Signed) Kamehameha. 
(Signed) Kaahumanu. 
By the King and Kuhina Nui, (Signed) L. Kajiehameha. 

In the speech to legislature delivered by commission 
on the 14th of August, I860, the Queen Consort was 
named Eegent during the minority of the heir-apparent 
in case of a vacancy of the throne. 

The subject of public hospitals had been broached 
by the King in his first speech to legislature after his 
accession, in 1855. In September, 1859, His Majesty 
had the happiness of opening the admirable institution 
which had been named after the young Queen. From 
the MS. notes of one who was present on that interesting 
occasion, the following sentences are transcribed : — 

One of the institutions which should have been first, came 
into existence last — the hospital. To the personal exertions of 
the present king and queen the hospital owes its being. A 
gap in the existing order of things had been talked about and 
written about ; the one thing remaining most necessary for the 
people had been piously recommended to the legislature by two 
kings in their turn, and more than twice by each of them, and 



344 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

yet there arose no refuge for those who were being plucked into 
the grave by penury and pushed into it by disease. At last, 
the young father of his people and his younger wife, weary of 
protestations of good- will, which ended where they began, went 
out to beg ; and the stately intimations from the throne merged 
into a prayer of earnest heart. One might have thought they 
were canvassing for some candidate in whom they had a per- 
sonal interest, so pertinacious and so unavoidable was their 
request. It was certainly a novel sight to see a king and queen 
going about to gather names to a subscription list : but so it 
was; and day after day, and for this end, their Majesties' car- 
riages ' stopped the way.' This episode of royalty mendicant 
may disarrange the ideas of some who have only seen their 
sovereign surrounded by the halo of a triumphal arch, or by a 
brilliant setting of lords and ladies, too happy and too grand 
(as it seemed) for every-day employments. Yet we might re- 
member how a queen of mighty England even once begged on 
her knees for the lives of half a dozen burgesses, and five hun- 
dred pictures have since celebrated that pious act of love. That 
appeal is bright with all the colours of romance, whilst this 
before us appears in homespun. Queen Philippa's prayer was 
addressed to a king, and has a grand air about it, but this was 
made by a king to the people; and so prosaically, that a lawyer's 
office, a trader's counting-house, or a lady's parlour formed the 
background to the humble scene. However, the effort suc- 
ceeded. Human charity, and a touch of nature, which 'makes 
the whole world kin,' with a fancy-fair or two, established 
the hospital, legislature not refusing its due assistance. 

The ladies of Honolulu hemmed the sheets, and their 
daughters made the pillow-cases. A German gentleman— a 
consul in fact — ^volunteered a design for the building : it was 
erected on his plans, and there the hospital stands, solid, light, 
airy, clean, commodious. The King, assisted by his brother 
masons, laid the corner-stone; and to commemorate the 
woman's part, they have called the hospital afler the Queen. 
Within its walls, already, many lives have been saved, many 
weary days of sickness have been shortened and sweetened by 



THE queen's hospital. 345 

gentle ministrations. And well we know that those walls which 
often reverberate to the moaning of suffering and weakness, 
fail not to hear at night and morning " praises to God, and 
blessiugs on their Majesties. 

The last act of the King that will fall within the 
scope of this chapter is the request which he preferred 
to the Church and people of England, to establish a 
branch of the reformed Episcopal Church in Hawaii. 
On the 5th of December, 1859, Mr. Wyllie communi- 
cated to His Majesty's representative in London, the 
desire of the King and the Queen to have a church 
erected in their capital ; towards the support of which 
the King offered on his own behalf and that of residents 
who desired the church's services, a certain income. 
His Majesty devoted a piece of land for the church, and 
to erect a house. The King directed his representative 
to confer on the subject with the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, the Bishop of London, and the Church Societies. 
Subsequently, the King wrote an autograph letter to 
Her Majesty, and, by His Minister of Foreign Eolations, 
to the Primate, and to Earl Eussell. 

In another letter it is explained that under the second 
article of the constitution no national or state religion 
is to be adopted ; but all Christian denominations are 
placed on an equal footing of right, and possess a 
perfect freedom of religious worship. Hence no special 
appropriation could be made by government towards 
the Episcopal Church. It was desired that the services 
should be performed with all the rites and ceremonies 
sanctioned by the Church ; and that all vestments, in- 
struments, and ornaments, proper to their due celebra- 
tion, should be sent from England, and that it was 
necessary to provide an organ, bell, font, &c. 



346 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

This despatch recalls the fact of a request, already 
mentioned in the foregoing pages, having been made 
to the British Sovereign by Captain Vancouver, to send 
religious teachers from England to Hawaii. A similar 
requisition was afterwards made to George IV.; but 
neither of these appeals was acted upon. To show that 
the desire for the introduction of the English Church 
was not new or sudden, it is mentioned that in 1844, a 
subscription list was circulated and numerously signed in 
Honolulu for the support of an English clergyman ; and 
other attempts for the same object were made in the years 
1847, 1851, and 1858. They had failed hitherto; but 
the wish had long existed, and the first idea was fairly 
to be ascribed to the first of the royal line of Kame- 

hameha. 

It is written with gratitude, that the appeal made in 
England in 1860 has not been neglected. Men's hearts 
warmed with the thought that new realms invited the 
Church's mission, that the distant islands of the ocean 
waited to be embraced in that kingdom which must 
extend till the company of preachers who have gone 
abroad to the east and to the west, again meet one 
another; and that the craggy heights of far Hawaii 
might now ' stand up and take the morning.' The new 
mission, has produced an additional interest, inasmuch 
as this invitation to our Church is the only one that has 
been made by an independent sovereign. The sister 
Church in America welcomed the opportunity of join- 
ing in the labour of love, and was prepared to go hand 
in hand with the Church in Great Britain in sending 
out clergy. The troubles which subsequently broke 
out in the North American continent did, for a time, 
interrupt the intended joint action. A committee for 
conducting in England the affairs of the Hawaiian church 



INVITATION TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



347 



mission was formed; and on the loth of December, 
1861, the Rev. Thomas Nettleship Staley, B.J),, late 
fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, was consecrated 
first Bishop of Honolulu, in Lambeth Chapel by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of London and 
Oxford being assessors. The day was that on which 
Dr. Thompson, the present Archbishop of York, was 
consecrated Bishop of Grloucester and Bristol, and the 




CHURCH PUOPOSED TO BE ERECTKD IX HONOLULU. 



service, at all times a solemn one, was rendered yet 
more memorable by the news which was spreading 
itself among the congregation present, of the death of 
the Prince Consort the previous night. 

A subsequent chapter will be devoted to the estab- 
lishment and progress of the English Church in the 
Sandwich Islands. 



348 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTEK XXII. 

HAWAIIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 

*T HAVE visited many parts of the earth,' writes an old 
J_ voyager, ' but nowhere in my travels have I met 
with more than two sorts of human beings, — men and 
women.' 

It will seem trite, after this remark, to say that in 
the Hawaiian character good and ill qualities are com- 
bined ; yet, because this is essentially true, it must be 
said in spite of its triteness. The important question 
is, whether the mixed ore, upon analysis, holds out the 
hope of reduction to a valuable metal. 

The most salient points in the native race are courage, 
hospitality, a friendly and affable disposition, a consti- 
tutional good humour and mirthfulness. This much for 
good. On the other hand must be written against 
them, indolence, sensuality and licentiousness, improvi- 
dence, and a carelessness about life and death, apparently 
arising from ignorance of, or disbelief in, a future exist- 
ence. In things indifferent, their natural taste is 
gesthetic ; they have a great love of beauty, are imitative, 
and ambitious to copy the manners, habits, dress, and 
luxuries of foreigners. They have as much imagination 
as other Pacific tribes, but in their religion they were 
materialistic idolaters, and in this were strongly dis- 
tinguished from the red tribes of North America, whose 



PHYSICAL CONFORMATION. 349 

worship is purely spiritual, having no visible repre- 
sentations of divinity, and is addressed to the great 
spirit Manetou. Considerable importance should be 
given to the fact of this distinction in comparing the 
aborigines of North America with those of Oceanica. 

After this short summary, we will proceed to examine 
the features of the Hawaiian character more in detail. 
And first a word as to the physique of the race. The 
Hawaiians are strong, well-made, and active ; in height 
rather above the average of our own country. In com- 
plexion they vary mucli among themselves. The fishing 
and other classes, which expose themselves very greatly 
in the sun, become almost black : on the other hand, 
there are natives who might be properly called fair, and 
these of pure blood; the half-castes being, naturally, 
lighter in hue. Speaking generally, their skin may be 
said to be olive brown, approximating to the tint of the 
Moors of North Africa. The hair is black and wa^dng, 
frequently quite straight. Its curl is perfectly free from 
the woolliness of the African, scarcely differing from the 
hair of those Europeans who are fortunate enough not 
to have straight locks. The women are unquestionably 
attractive. Their figures whilst young keep the juste 
milieu between lightness and embonpoint; the limbs 
and bust are finely formed, and the hands, feet, and 
ankles are small and delicate. Their beauty is inferior, 
on the whole, to the Marquesan women's, but they re- 
tain it much longer than women generally do in tropical 
climates, or even in Europe. Many Hawaiian females 
are still handsome at fifty, the common fault brought 
by advancing years being that of excessive corpulency. 
In men and women the countenance is characterized by 
a fulness of the nostrils, although the nose is not flat ; 
the face is wide, and the eyes bright and black. The 



350 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

women are attractive from their cheerful, smiling, and 
lively expression ; whilst their merry laugh and pleasant 
aloha, or welcome, show the face to be an index of 
their mind. From the remarkable height and bulk of 
the chiefs, both males and females, the dominant class 
has been considered by some writers to be a distinct 
and conquering race. Kesidents in the islands are not 
of this opinion, and account for the difference in size 
between the chiefs and the common people as arising 
from abundance of food and rest and other hereditary 
advantages. Sir Greorge Simpson speaks of a chief 
and chiefess to whom he was introduced as so unwieldy, 
that though in perfect health, they were unable to 

walk. 

Courage — stronger than battering-rams — is the basis 
of every fine character. The Hawaiians possess the 
virtue in an unquestionably high degree. It was shown 
in the old warlike times by their open, standing-up 
fight. Their bodies were unprotected by armour or 
even by clothes; their weapons were the spear, the 
dagger, the club, and stones. They did not resort to 
artifice or stratagem in war, and they kept up a fight 
with the determination of a Witherington, and for a 
length of time which makes Chev}^ Chase shrink into 
insignificance. War has been entirely abolished for 
forty years, but their valour shows itself under new 
forms. The Hawaiians are now as peaceful a people as 
any upon earth ; they are more free from crimes of 
violence than almost any nation that can be named. 
Their natural courage crops out in their love of, and 
daring in, riding ; in their delight in swimming among 
the heavy breakers rolling over the reefs ; their descent 
of precipices, and even in their games. Kamehameha I. 
would allow six of his warriors to throw their spears 



PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS. 351 

at him, himself armed only with one of the javelins, 
with which he would turn aside the flying weapons, 
each ready to let out his life-blood. The °women no 
longer follow their husbands to the battle, to staunch 
their wounds or fight beside them; but they endure 
long journeys, and bear heavy burdens, swim through 
the raging surf, and plunge down the waterfall into the 
ocean when the leap is forty feet and upwards in height. 
The courage of both sexes is exhibited in the calm in- 
difference with which they await death. The king of 
terrors does not much appal them. This may arise 
partly from stoicism, and partly from unbelief or want 
of a strong belief in an after-state ; it probably is also 
due in part to their constitutional firmness.* 

It appears strange, and contrary to analogy, that a 
people of bold and forcible character should express 
themselves in a language more fitted for the Sybarites. 
We are accustomed to look upon language as amoncr 
national idiosyncrasies and indicative of "the national 
character. The angular teutonic speech with its crowd 
of obstructive consonants, seems natural and necessary 
to the peoples which use it ; the vocal and emasculated 
derivations from the Latin, flow congruously from the 

* The following remark of a missionary may seem somewhat at 
variance with the above view; but superstition is an infection which 
saps many bold and even religious minds : 

' The Hawaiians can lie down and die the easiest of any people with 
which I am acquainted. I have pretty good reason for the belief that 
they sometimes die through fear, believing that some person having the 
power to pray them to death is in the act of doing so ; and the imac^i- 
nation is so wrought up that life yields to intense fear.' (' Answers to 
Mr. WyUie's Questions.') ^ 

The yielding up of life under these circumstances is not, however 
inconsistent with the possession of great courage; because the Ha- 
waiians had a settled belief that no degree of ^boi-age or resistance 
could avail them in such a case, and they in consequence submitted 
themselves calmly to tlieir fate. 



352 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

pleasure-loving inhabitants of South Europe. The 
Greek language was born of masculine energy and 
elegant fancy ; and so delicate was the people's appre- 
hension of the expressive, that several dialects neces- 
sarily grew up where there were geographical and other 
differencing circumstances within the nation. The 
Hawaiian language is so soft as rather to be compared 
to the warbling of birds than the speech of suffermg 
mortals. It is usually said to contain but twelve letters, 
namely, seven consonants, and five vowels. This is, 
however, only the case by counting the two pairs of 
interchangeables as two letters. The h and t, and the 
I and r, are so blended, that the distinction between the 
letters of each pair is not observed by the natives, or 
even by those who have been long resident m the 
islands. It is probable that the two interchangeable 
pairs were really two real letters, not found in European 
alphabets, and were analytically resolved into two ele- 
ments by the missionaries, in order to give them known 
phonetic expression. The Arabic guttural, combmmg 
g and r, cannot be phonetically expressed m our lan- 
guage.* 

Assuming, however, the two pairs to be four letters, 
the Hawaiian alphabet consists of the vowels a, e, ^, o, u, 
and the consonants h, k, and t, U and r, m, n, p, and w. 
The consonants rejected are h, (since the residence of 
white people, added for foreign words) c, not used as a 
sibilant, and only found under the sound oi h-, d, /, g, 
j q s V, X, y, and z. Our ears are so accustomed to a 
centrifugal language, that we can scarcely conceive how 
a people could get on without an /, a g, or an s, W hole 

^ I do not speak decisively on this point. An informant who knows 
the language very thoroughly, states that the k and t, and the I and r 
are as pure in a Hawaiian's mouth as m a European s. 



LANGUAGE. 353 

sentences, may consist of vowels without the admixture 
of a single consonant. 

The language may, on the whole, says Sir George Simpson, 
be considered as pleasing and agreeable to the ear after a time 
though at first it sounds childish, indistinct, and insipid It 
lacks, of course, everything like force and expression; and the 
natives are by no means to be compared as orators with the 
aborigines of North America. The language is not capable of 
reaching the lofty strain of the Blackfeet, the Crees, or the 
Saulteaux, but flows on in a mellifluous feebleness, which 
though It never offends the ear, always leaves us unsatisfied. ' 
^ Ihe indistinctness and confusion which arise from the scan- 
tmess of Its elements, and its consequent repetition of the same 
sounds, are considerably aggravated by the copiousness of the 
vocabulary— a copiousness which is said to have been in a great 
measure caused by the pride and policy of the chiefs, who ha-^ 
bitually mvented new words for their own peculiar use, and 
constantly replaced them, as soon as they became familiar to the 
people, with other novelties of the same kind. Under those 
circumstances, to say nothing of the intricacy and precision of 
the grammar, a foreigner can never hope entirely to master the 
tongue; and even the missionaries, in spite of all their indus- 
try and zeal, often find their ears at fault, more particularly 
when the natives, as is their custom in cracking their jokes at 
the expense of strangers, chant their barely articulate strings 
of vowels in a quick and monotonous strain. 

The Hawaiians have, moreover, a different dialect 
for their poetry ; or, at least, if the language be the 
same, its inflections and construction appear very dif- 
ferent, and its metaphors and allusions, which give 
enjoyment to the native race, elude the comprehension 
of residents who are well acquainted with the Hawaiian 
language used in prose. A young poetess, lately dead 
who suffered under the intractable name of Poki en- 
3hained the people with her lyrics; yet an informant. 



A A 



354 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

who knew tlie prose language so perfectly that he could 
report in shorthand the speeches made in the houses of 
legislature, was entirely baffled in his attempts to com- 
prehend the poetry, which by turns melted and mflamed 
its native hearers. The people were fond of fabulous 
tales and songs, and formerly spent much of their time 
in telling stories, and crooning their meles, or songs, to 
the accompaniment of the small drum or the musical 
stick Indeed the Hawaiians equalled the Marquesans, 
the most lively natives of the Pacific, in the number of 
their songs, and exceeded in that respect the Society 

Islanders. 

The fatal gift of beauty, a delicious climate, whicJi 
rendered clothing unnecessary — except the flowery 
wreath, which both sexes wore, partly from innate taste 
and partly to shade the eyes— an indolent and pleasure- 
loving constitution, abundant opportunity, their houses 
small and undivided by partitions, and the absence of 
adverse public opinion, are among the prevalent causes 
of a general absence of chastity among the Hawaiians. 
Till taught otherwise by the missionaries, the natives 
had no "conception that aphrodisiac indulgences were 
even wrong or hurtful ; they had not even a word to 
express chastity in their language. To learn to look 
upon sensual love as sin, was to acquire a lesson as new 
as it was difficult ; for the teaching of ancient custom 
was universally opposite to such a doctrine. It is true 
that in special cases adultery was severely punished, 
but this seems to have been the fruit of expediency and 

* The men wore the mala, a narrow girdle of linen passing round the 
waist and between the thighs, very similar to the cloth of tl^^ Hindoos 
The women used the pan, a short petticoat reachmg from he waist 
nearly to the knees. In addition to this scant measure of clothing, the 
people very frequently wore a short mantle or tippet. 



LICENTIOUS HABITS. 355 

respect for chiefdom. Even hospitality would not have 
been complete without an unconditional offer to an 
honoured guest of a transient partner, to be selected 
from the female household. The light of nature had 
not taught them to restrain their appetites, and society 
went on under those licentious conditions. To such a 
nataon as this the cold injunctions of morality were 
powerless, and a doctrinal religion not insisting on 
fruits of holiness was as inoperative. The highest M-mi- 
ment of the schools prevails little against the inexorable 
logic of the senses stirred by passion. Why linger 
more on so ungrateful a theme ? It is perhaps not 
quite true that the Hawaiians did not feel some moral 
degradation though they could not rise above it: and 
the sense of want of self-respect led them commonly to 
speak of themselves as ' beasts.' * Yet if they did not 
ove wisely, they could love well, and they had among 
hemselves many shining instances of constancy, evef 
to death, under circumstances where it migLt be 
supposed constancy must have faltered and died 

The American missionaries, and the native govern- 
ment actuated by the missionaries, threw themselves 
unenquirmgly and at once into a crusade against the 
prevailing licentiousness of the people. Fines im 
prisonment, severe labour, and informers, wer^ the" 
weapons of their warfare. A great appar nrchange 
was rapidly effected. They clothed and converted the 
natives, and they produced, not, alas ! a regenerated 
people, but a nation of hypocrites. It is no'dZltJ 
to the Hawaiians to dissemble; simulation and dissi- 
mulation are dramatic costumes they readily assume 
rhey not only seemed to do what the missionaries Te-' 
quired, but they imitated the manner, tones, and the 
» See 'Answers to Mr, WyUie's Questions,' No. 63. 

A A 2 



356 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

very appearance of the missionaries themselves. In 
fact they are admirable mimics. The missionaries 
gestu e Ld intonation, their soft feline style of ap- 
froaoh their very seat in the saddle, the sun-burnt 
b ack suit, all were exactly counterfeited,-nothmg 
e caped them ! It is only doing the missionaries justxce 
Tsay that they might well have been deceived by such 
n lookinff-glass resemblance of themselves. 

:Sn!e is another grand fault attributed to the 
Hawaiian race. It is very true that the del~^ 
equable climate engenders in those -Bstantlj ^th^^ 
its influence a lotus-eating habit, a love of ^^^f^^f^ 
niente. Their absolute wants were few •> -^^ - th« 
chiefs would have pounced down on any little surplus 
h people could have acquired by labour, they lost the 
powerful stimulus of a desire to accumulate. It is 
I7n^ beyond the truth to say that indolence was en- 
tire"; ingrained in the people's nature. It was enforcea 
Don them by circumstances. 'The moral effect of 
:^p id laluf upon their habits is to do as lit le as 
!oLble when at work, and that little as unfaithfully as 
no she The influence of unwilling labour when 
possih e. „„.„,gtand it, is injurious to health, so 

TaTX thVs:atn"body Weni upon cheerfulness 

of m nd.'* Thus with a distaste for labour forced upon 
Lmf ;.ith the knowledge that the^-^^ J^^^ 
would be stolen from them, and with a tolerable cer 
Tain y that they would not actually starve if they did 
the minimum quantity of work, we are not surprised that 
mLTnawaiials were la.y drones, in tie ab-ce of a 
religion which erects diligence m busmess to tieranl^^t 
a God-beloved virtue. Nor is it correct to say that m- 
dotence was universal. It is true that a tare pit having 

* 'Answers to Mr. WyUie's Questions,' No. 25. 



INDOLENCE AND CHEERFULNESS. 357 

the area of an ordinary dressing-room will keep a man in 
food the whole year— if it be diligently cultivated* But 
there are few species of labour more constant and more 
wearing than that of cultivating the esculent arum. The 
men work in the heat of the day in the patches or pits, 
which require to be kept filled to a certain height with 
water. Irrigation has to be attended to, the plant 
continually tended, and even when used, the process of 
converting the root into _po2', which is done by pounding 
it for a long time with a heavy stone pestle, is heavy 
and tedious work. Ellis remarks, ' We have often been 
struck with the restless avidity and untiring effort with 
which they pursue even the most toilsome game.' 

The natural disposition of the Hawaiians is everything 
that is opposite to the gloomy and morose. The plea- 
sant, universal ' aMia ' or salutation, the merry rino-incr 
laughter of the women wherever found, proclaim the 
people to be a light-hearted race. No occasion to 
address to them, as Southey does to the fair sex on a 
consideration of the shortness of life, ^a melancholy 
exhortation to be cheerful while they may,'— for the cares 
of life sit lightly on them. It is consistent with such 
mirthful and good-tempered temperament to be want- 
ing in very deep human feehngs; but the people are as 
kindly and as hospitable as any who inhabit our planet. 
Nothing is more offensive to a Hawaiian's feelings than 
that a traveller should not return the ' aloha ' or saluta- 
tion ; and they are very observant of the ' haole ' or 

* It has been calculated that a square mile of taro will feed 15 151 
persons during the same period. When raw the root is acrid 'and 
styptic, and is used in that state medicinally. The plant is propa- 
gated by tops cut from the suckers of one year's growth. Beds are dug 
two or three feet deep in the earth, and are beaten hard to make them 
hold water. There is a red and a white species, with several varieties of 
both kinds. 



358 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

foreigner. In living, they are simple, having few arti- 
ficial wants. The chiefs especially exhibited great 
courtesy. Their hospitalities were always accompanied 
by a polite behaviour peculiarly gratifying to those who 
came within their range, and indicated a degree of 
refinement seldom found among uncivilized nations.* 
This courtesy was remarkably shown in the use of the 
graceful dual in their speaking, and their delicacy by 
the constant practice which prevailed among the chiefs 
of washing the hands before and after meals. Personal 
cleanliness must have been greatly promoted by the 
universal bathing habits of the people. 

The dweUings of the natives, writes Sir George Simpson, are 
extremely neat and clean both internally and externally. They 
are constructed of a firamework of bamboos covered with grass. 
The fiirniture is very simple, though generally sufficient for the 
wants of the inmates in such a chmate. The houses (he is 
writing in 1842) are commonly separated into sleepmg and 
sitting compartments by means of curtains hung across from 
waU to wall: but everything, whether exposed to view or not, 
whether within the house itself or merely within the surround- 
ing inclosure, is scrupulously clean and neat, presentmg, m this 
respect, a wonderful contrast with the filth and confusion of 
most of the native lodges of the Continent At whatever time 
of the day we dropped into a house, we found no difference m 
any of these particulars ; there was never any unpleasant smell 
about the premises. In fact, as far as my experience goes, 
cleanliness may be ranked among the cardinal virtues of the 
Hawaiians.*f 

* Ellis mentions, as an instance of their hospitality, that two hun- 
dred docs were cooked at one feast : and that Anna, his guide, had seen 
four hundred baked dogs at one entertainment, with proportionate quan- 
tities of fish, hogs, and vegetables. The value of the dogs, which are 
bred and fed purposely for eating, would be very great. 

t ' Overland Journey,' ii. 41. 



LOVE OF LITIGATION. 359 

Other observers, it must be added, give by no means 
the same satisfactory account of their cleanHness. 

In no country is there greater safety to person and 
property. Murders occur at about the rate of one in 
three years, and the malefactors are chiefly Chinese 
immigrants. A few petty larcenies enHven the criminal 
courts ; but the newspapers complained lately that no 
burglary has taken place to give animation to their 
columns, and interest to their readers. 

The Hawaiians are devotedly fond of Htigation. It is 
the form the combativeness of their nature has taken 
since war and violence have been abandoned. Some of 
the natives make shrewd lawyers, and their courts are 
always pretty full of business. Justice is administered 
m many parts of the islands by native judges, some of 
whom show great aptitude for their office. The writer 
of some rural sketches in the ' Commercial Advertiser ' 
was much struck by an individual of this order, whom 
he describes as a fine-looking fellow about six feet high 
well-proportioned, and with a hand that might well 
have belonged to a high-born patrician woman. He 
had abundance of the dignity befitting his occupation. 
This dignity characterized the chiefs. Those whom we 
have seen in Europe possessed it in a large degree. 
They were at their ease in the best society ; and whilst 
never intrusive, they expressed in their bearing that 
sense of nobility which makes itself felt in the leaders 
of a civilized or of a savage society. 

These Polynesian islanders are, as already stated, an 
^sthetic people, having an extreme love of the beautiful 
During the first glimmerings of civilization they im- 
ported from Europe fine glass and china : the fashions 
of Pans are reproduced in Honolulu. Their admira- 
tion of personal beauty is extreme in all classes. Some 



360 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

few years ago, there landed on the wharf at Hono- 
lulu a beautiful stranger, the native of another island 
of the group. Beauty will always assert its sway 
and draw us with a single hair. The highest instance 
of beauty in every race would be admitted to be admi- 
rable in every other nation. A yoimg beauty from 
China would create a sensation in a London drawing- 
room or a Parisian salon. This Aphrodite stepping on 
shore from the lapping waters was instantly recognized 
as superlatively beautiful. She was immediately sur- 
rounded by unaffected admirers, each of whom in his 
unsophisticated adoration saluted her with his lips. 
Never was a first-born child more ' fretted with saUies 
of his mother's kisses.' The news of her arrival spread 
like wildfire. Men left their anvil and their j^oi, and 
crowded round the lovely stranger. She stood there 
Hke the moon within a coloured halo— only the halo 
pressed rather close, and came near stifling her. The 
police were obliged to interfere ; and even then a fate 
Hke that of the late Miss Verey, who was looked to 
death by admirers, became imminent ; when the happy 
thought occurred to the chief constable, or (but we 
hope not) to the lady herself, of placing a tariff on her 
ruby lips, of a quarter of a dollar for each salute. The 
money was cheerfully paid, but the ' pull ' against the 
public had gradually the desired effect, and the beautiful 
stranger in a few hours was released. 

Their love of the graceful and beautiful was seen in 
the universal use of flowers and leaves for coronals. 
Even in their churches the people would throw them- 
selves on the ground in graceful attitudes wreathed as 
at a festival. They have lately been taught better 
manners. The writer of the rural sketches previously 
mentioned thus describes an unpremeditated picture on 
which he chanced : — 



/ 

APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY. — LOYE OF ANIMALS. 361 

It was a group of wliicli a painter might have been proud, 
consisting chiefly of a party of native girls. Their hair and 
necks were ornamented with the gay flowers of the ohelo 
(Gualtheria pendiiliflorum), as beautifully interwoven as if 
done by fairy fingers. They appeared as unsophisticated and 
happy as if they were strangers to every sorrow. In the 
centre was an old man, nearly one hundred years of age, who 
had lived in the days of Kamehameha I., and had witnessed 
the annihilation of several pagan temples, and the destruction 
of 40,000 idols. 

It is to be hoped that the centenarian was a good old 
man, and was teaching that young galaxy of beauty 
some useful moral lesson. 

The Hawaiians are a somewhat agricultural people, 
and were so when first discovered, and indeed from 
their earKest history. In this respect they dififered 
from the aborigines of North and South America, as 
they did also in regard to their worship, being idolaters, 
whilst the red races of the northern continent main- 
tained an immaterial worship. This agrarian tendency 
may account for their love of animals. They took to 
riding as if ' to the manner born.' Every woman has 
a pet animal; and mothers who are nursing their off- 
spring will suckle a puppy at the same time— a rivalry 
by no means in favour of the strength or number of 
their own progeny. Sometimes the favourite is a young 
pig. Their tenderness towards this unclean animal was 
amusingly exemplified by a traveller who came upon 
a group of native women surrounding a hog of five 
hundred pounds' weight, which lay panting in the 
midst. The females had denuded themselves almost 
entirely, and were cooling the pig by dipping their 
garments in water and covering him with them. 

In old countries where races have amalgamated and 



362 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

systems changed, where a remnant of the past runs 
parallel with the body of the present or blends intri- 
cately with it, it is not always easy to trace each 
peculiarity of the national mind to its source. But in 
Hawaii, unconquered and uncolonized, retaining its 
language and the broader conditions of social existence 
the same at the commencement of this century as they 
had been for untold ages gone by, this homogeneity 
makes it less difficult to discover the connection between 
cause and effect in what is called the genius of the 
people. Of their moral failings enough has already 
been said, and the sources of the laxity have been suffi- 
ciently alluded to. Their indolence has also been 
accounted for, an indolence which must not be con- 
founded with sloth. From time immemorial the people 
lived under chiefs of greater or less influence. For 
them they worked and fought, and from them they re- 
ceived protection and the necessaries of life, either 
directly in the shape of a share of the common product, 
or of the produce of their individual labour on little 
patches of land set apart for their particular use. They 
did the work of the chiefs in companies, each company 
having a luna or head man. The rapidity with which 
they could build and thatch a large house, or lay up 
great lengths of stone wall, or prepare and plant acres 
of land with kalo, or cut and carry to the beach cargoes 
of sandal-wood, was quite surprising. The particular 
work having been done, the people would fall forthwith 
into a state of repose, or hurry back to resume their 
own little affairs at home. Thus their minds acquired 
a habit of alternating between action and inaction, 
which distinguishes them to the present day. We have 
spoken of them as indolent, but there is hardly an indi- 
vidual among the natives who is not capable, at times. 



POTENTIAL ENERaiES. 363 

of very severe exertion and of great activity. The 
nature of their private agricultural employments tended 
then, and still tends, to create the same habit of inter- 
mittent labour. To prepare a kalo patch for planting, 
after it has lain fallow and its loamy bottom become 
sunbaked, is no easy matter. To accomplish the task is 
very hard work; but the proper preparations made, its 
possessor may spend his time easily enough, for any 
woman or child is able to tend the kalo as it advances 
towards maturity. To fell a tree and chip out a canoe 
and shape it is hard work, and to carry it through the 
woods and down rough valleys and precipices on human 
shoulders is not less so; but to paddle it about when 
floated and bring it to land on the crest of a breaker is 
more a matter of skill and pleasure than of strength. 
These instances may suffice to show that habits of con- 
tinuous labour were not necessary in the social condition 
of the people, and were therefore not formed ; but it 
would be an injustice to presume that therefore they 
cannot be formed under different auspices. The men 
who hire themselves on the sugar and coffee plantations 
and labour day by day all the year round, might be 
pointed to in order to show that the Hawaiian can 
assimilate himself to new habits of labour ; and it is to 
be observed that they generally re-hire themselves at the 
expiration of their engagement. Then there are the 
prmters and salesmen, the carpenters, blacksmiths, sea- 
men, tailors, and house-servants, all of whom labour 
continuously. No doubt there are many strong, heavy- 
limbed young men who prefer riding about on horse- 
back, calling from house to house, and eating where 
hospitality offers, to regular industry. But would not 
a great many of the working men in England do the 
same if they had the opportunity ? That drones should 



364 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

be permitted in the hive is unwise, but as long as they 
are permitted there will be no lack of them. These 
remarks are important in estimating the calibre of the 
Hawaiians, for in this bustling age little interest can 
be felt in a hopelessly lazy man or people. 

The effect of the ancient custom of the chiefs calling 
upon their retainers to go together to labour, and return 
together to repose, is observable in many of the popular 
habits at the present time. The people of a village 
often agree that on a certain day they will in a body 
undertake such or such a job, though the work done by 
each is on his own account. In our country we are 
accustomed to see each individual perform what he has 
to do when it best suits his own convenience, and are 
surprised at a procedure so different from our own. 
In the same way the women will enter into a conven- 
. tion that on a given day they will go into the woods to 
pick apples or gather flowers for wreaths, although the 
apples would have tasted as sweet and the wreaths have 
become them as well if gathered on any intervening 

day. 

Among the Hawaiian customs may be mentioned a 

fashion of giving a feast on the death-day of those who 

were dear to them. On such, to us sad, occasions they 

make quite as merry as if they were assisting at the 

celebration of a birth. They very frequently, also, keep 

the bodies of the dead, coffined, but unburied, in their 

dwelling-houses, eating and enjoying themselves in that 

solemn presence, and telling good stories of the departed, 

whom they indicate by name, or, more forcibly, by 

pointing to the bier. Widows of rank sometimes have 

a tent pitched near the graves of their husbands, to 

which they retire with a retinue every evening, to sleep 

or mourn. Yet they fear spirits, and when they see 



CUSTOMS. — FAMILY RELATIONS. 365 

one in the dark (as the females often do), they scream 
till the hills echo their alarm. 

A common practice existed in Hawaii of giving away 
children at their birth. It was, and still is, very much 
the custom to do so. Children so made over have at 
least as much, and very often more, love for their adop- 
tive than their natural parents. They regard the real 
authors of their being in much the same light as uncles 
and aunts ; and as if to assist an indefiniteness of feeling 
in these respects, the real or the adoptive parents go by 
the same title as uncles and aunts ; and it does not re- 
quire a near connection to make an uncle or aunt. As 
a consequence, it is sometimes difficult to know the 
exact relationship of some person alluded to. For in- 
stance, a young Hawaiian may be speaking of his 
'makuakane.' You ask him if he means his actual 
father ? No. — His adoptive father, then ? No. Who 
does he mean? WTiy, the brother of his father's 
brother's wife. The father's brother's wife beino- his 
aunt, all her sisters are his aunts, and all her brothers 
his uncles, and are known (unless particular dis- 
tinctness is required) by the same definition of relation- 
ship as his father and mother de facto. A great many 
wise things might be said about a custom which 
breaks up what has been considered the nucleus of all 
government, to wit, the relationship between parents 
and their ojffspring. The custom referred to arose 
probably in the good old troublous times, when the 
people, females as well as men, were a good deal ordered 
out by their superiors, and a family of young children 
was inconvenient. We may fancy, too, that the chiefs, 
who liked to increase the number of their retainers, 
encouraged those under them to adopt the children of 
others who were less in a condition to be burthened 



366 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

with them. But then the chiefs did the same thing ; 
perhaps from considerations of policy in another shape. 
Whatever the origin of the custom, of late years it has 
probably been complied with principally from a desire 
on the part of the person adopting to have some young 
thing to take care of, and be amused by, or to secure 
an heir. To whatsoever causes we assign the present want 
of fecundity among the Hawaiian females, we must 
suppose them to have been more proHfic when this 
custom first prevailed. To the desire of the childless 
for children, therefore, can hardly be traced the origin 
and universality of what in most countries would be 
called an unnatural practice. 



867 



CHAPTER XXIir. 

THE DEPOPULATION OF THE ISLANDS— KIBKOTH-HATAAYA. 

rpHE depopulation of the Hawaiian Islands is a 
X chapter which must be written, with however 
much regret. 

There are, of course, some general principles in- 
volved in the phenomenon of coloured races dying out 
in the presence of the white man. They are sufficiently 
obscure ; and were the fact of depopulation confined 
to a few instances, some obvious natural causes might 
seem sufficient to account for the decay of native 
races when in contact with white-skinned settlers or 
mvaders. But as the rule of decay of dark races seems, 
rather, to be universal, we must suppose some more 
comprehensive agents of destruction. The fact had 
attracted the attention of the Hawaiians themselves 
many years ago. Mr. Hill, who visited the islands in 
1849, mentions that one of his European friends who 
mmgled much with the natives informed him that there 
was a general impression among them of their early 
extmction. Even in the year 1823, when Mr. Ellis 
was in Hawaii, a fear of the consequences of the 
approach of white men prevailed. 

At Waikiki the natives seemed to doubt the propriety of 
foreigners coming to reside among them permanently. They 
said they had heard that in several countries where foreigners 




3g8 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

had intermingled with the original natives, the latter had soon 
disappeared; and should missionaries come to live there, 
perhaps the land would ultimately become theirs, and the 
Kanaka Maore (aborigines) cease to be its occupiers. 

It is now generally agreed that Captain Cook over- 
estimated the population of the islands at the time of 
his visit. He supposed, from what he saw on the coasts, 
that the entire number of people on the group was 
about 400,000. He would, perhaps, make allowance for 
the concourse at any particular bay which such a great 
event as the arrival of his ships would draw together, 
but he probably overlooked the identity of the crowd, 
as to part of its numbers, when he moved from one 
anchorage to another. A theatrical manager would 
have put him right at once, because accustomed to 
make numerical display of a limited company, by many 
exits and entrances: or if ^e had watched a city 
pageant, he would have ascertained that part of the un- 
satiated spectators in one street filter through side-lanes 
and alleys and form a portion of the crowd in another 
thorouo-hfare before the procession arrives there. Two 
hundre'd thousand would be probably the more correct 
computation of the Hawaiian population m 1778-9. 
Even then it seems likely to have been on the decrease, 
and that good old times had preceded that age— times m 
which a more numerous people covered the islands, and 
left traces of their strength and abundance in roads, 
walls, temples, and other works. From Cook's time to 
the present, the decay of the population has been con- 
tinuous and rapid. At the time of Mr. Ellis's visit, 
(1823) the number on the whole of the islands was 
estimated at from 130,000 to 150,000 souls, of which 
85 000 lived on the great island Hawaii. A rapid 
depopulation had certainly taken place in the previous 



DECREASE OF POPULATION. 359 

fifty years ; and among the causes of this decrement 
he places the frequent and destructive wars of the early 
part of the first Kamehameha's reign; the ravages of a 
pestilence first brought by foreign vessels, and which 
twice swept through the islands; the awful prevalence 
of infanticide ; and the increase of depravity and vice 
with their destructive consequences. By the natives' 
own account, the population of the islands had dimi- 
nished to one-fourth its number within forty years. 
This statement was probably an exaggeration ; but if 
It at all approached the truth, it would give support to 
Captam Cook's estimate of the people. In Ellis's time 
there was no census or systematic means of ascertaining 
me true numbers. ° 

When Mr Hill was in the islands (1849) the popu-' 
lation had fallen, by the last census, to 80,000. At the 
period of his visit the people were suffering from three 
distinct diseases, all of European and American im- 
portafon-namely, the measles, the influenza, and 

Sr 7 '' ^"f It"'. ""'' ""^'"^ ''^ ^-"^ ''^bers that 
before he left the loss was estimated at 10,000, or 
one-eighth of the entire population. 
_ By the census of 1853, the total number of the 
inhabitants of the islands was 73,137,-of whom 2,118 
were foreigners By the census of I860 the numbers 
had fallen to 69,800,-viz. 67,084 natives and 2,716 
foreigners, showing a decrease in seven years of 3 337 
persons. To the above numbers, however must be 
added 1,000 Hawaiians who were absent from the islands 
at the enumeration, being engaged at sea and in the 
guano trade. The excess of males over females at the 
last census was 6,198. It is believed that the downward 
progress IS at present at a stand, and that there is a 
probability of the next census showing some small 



B B 



370 HAWAIIAN ISLANUS. 

augmentation of numbers. The subjects of most con- 
cern in the remainder of this chapter are the causes of 
the depopulation, the possibility of their removal or 
alleviation, and the means for effecting so desirable an 

end. 

Taking the lowest estimate of the population at the 
moment of Cook's discovery of the islands, the Ha- 
waiian race has diminished to one-third in the last 
eighty years. New elements of destruction have cer- 
tainly been introduced by the contact of the white 
man, and full weight must be given to their action : 
nevertheless it is almost certain that destroying causes 
were already at work, and that the Hawaiians,-we 
may say the Polynesians generally,— were a doomed 

Ellis (in 1822-3) found, from those chiefs who 
were induced to be communicative, that infanticide 
still prevailed throughout all the islands; and, with 
the exception of the higher class of chiefs, was, as far 
as he could learn, practised by all ranks of the people. 
However numerous the children among the lower 
orders, parents seldom reared more than two or three, 
and many spared only one; all the others were de- 
stroyed shortly after birth, generally during the hrst 
year of their age. Foeticide and abortion are meant no 
doubt to be included under the general name of infant 
murder ; for he says ' the means by which it is accom- 
plished, though numerous, it would be improper to 
describe: several methods frequently proved tatal to 
the mother also.' From all the information he was able 
to obtain, and from facts which came to his knowledge 
in the neighbourhood where he resided, there was every 
reason to believe that two-thirds of the children were 
destroyed. The motives assigned for this wholesale 






CAUSES OF DEPOPULATION. 37 1 

infanticide were idleness, the avoidance of restraint to 
their habit of wandering, and of the trouble of brioo-inc^ 
up famihes, and the desire to preserve the mother's 
personal charms, which the nursing of children dimin- 
ished. A greater number of girls were destroyed than 
boys : the disproportion of the sexes in the schools was 
very marked. 

In the year 1846, Mr. Wyllie, the Minister of Foreiga 
delations, issued a circular addressed to all the mis 
sionaries engaged on the islands, to planters, graziers 
and others from whom statistics could be obtained' 
relative to the condition of the Hawaiian people, state' 
ot the laws, religion, topography of the islands, mineral 
wealth, &c., comprising in all 1 1 6 questions, to which 
were added, in 1858, six more questions relating spe- 
cially to the continuance and well-being of the native 
race To the answers to the first 116 questions (those 
to the remaining six have not been received), we turn 
for the most authentic information obtainable at the 
date of the returns, 1848. These answers are from 
eleven missionaries stationed on the five principal 
islands, and, as may be supposed, the results obtained 
from different islands vary considerably, in consequence 
of inequality of climate, foreign immigration, and other 
causes. Speaking generally, the following facts were 
established. Of epidemic diseases influenza was the 
most frequent, prevalent, and fatal. In Oahu it an- 
peared during the wet season about once in two years 
sweeping away many persons very suddenly. Asthma 
was a common complaint. Of contagious disorders vene- 
real types were common and destructive. In returns 
from two or three districts the annual number of deaths 
greatly exceeded the births. The land was much under- 
peopled ; the two districts of Hilo and Puna in Hawaii 



B B 2 



372 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

would alone support 400,000 inhabitants; in most 
places the population was not more than one-fifth of 
what the land would advantageously maintain. The 
prevailing vices were indolence, deceit, lewdness, and 
intemperance. Lewdness abounded at the seaports, 
was encouraged by foreign visitors, and not kept m 
check by much social disapprobation. In Maui licen- 
tiousness prevailed still more among married persons 
than the single, and great complaint was made of the 
conduct there of men of standing from Europe and 
America. The sin was greatly increased by the num- 
bers of whalers and merchantmen which put into the 
ports to refresh. The consequences were but too ap- 
parent. The blood of the nation was affected by it; 
energy and procreative power were withered up, and 
the probability of a healthy progeny was cut off. Early 
decrepitude and barrenness bespoke the miserable taint. 
In some places, however, a change for the better 
was showing itself in the opinions and habits of the 

people. . 

In answer to the direct question Ko. 73, as to the 
cause of the decrease of the population, it was answered, 
indolence, improvidence, and ignorance of the laws of 
animal life; but the most direct, certain, and fearful of 
all exterminating causes are early and protracted habits 
of Hcentiousness. Oppression was also adduced as a 
cause of decrement, and an intelUgent native, David 
Malo, placed foreign influence among such agents; 
and he asked, 'Why did not our children die as fre- 
quently in the time of our dark-heartedness as they do 
now ^ ' The adoption of foreign materials for clothing 
appeared unfavourable to health, though conducive to 
decency; but whatever reasons the respondents to the 
questions give for the falling-off of population, they are. 



CAUSES OF DEPOPULATION. 373 

invariably brought home to the enormous dimensions 
of the evil which had fallen, and was still fallin.^, on 
the Hawauan race, in consequence of illicit intercourse 
with men from Christian countries. One of the answers 
differs from the rest, and turns the thoughts to the 
general fact of coloured races dying out in the presence 
of white-skinned men. Mr. Coan gives as a cause, ' the 
mysterious will of God.' There are causes beyond the 
reach of human investigation, to which must be referred 
the unfruitfulness of many not the subjects of disease 
and the early death of children and females who might 
have been expected to live and add to the natural 
increase of the nation. 

Later writers confirm the foregoing views of causes 
destructive to population. Sir George Simpson, in 
writing of the years 1842-3, having referred to a great 
waste of hfe caused in obtaining sandalwood from the 
mountains, in the early part of the late king's reign 
refers to two then existing causes which poisoned the 
national life- immigration of the men, and the depravity 
of the women. A thousand males in the very prime of 
hfe were leaving the islands for California, Columbia, on 
long voyages, and in whaling-vessels. As to the women, 
m addition to infanticide, and that too in its most 
appalling form of living burial or of artificial abortion 
with Its consequent sterility, mothers were in the habit 
of exchanging children, and allowing pet puppies to 
share nature's food with their own offspring. As to 
results, the phenomena of the census taken in 1840 
were but too conclusive. There was less than one- 
fourth part of the population of one district under the 
age of eighteen. By the census of Great Britain in 
1851, the proportions of persons under twenty years 
old and above twenty years were as nine-and-a-half 



374 HAWAIIAN ISLA^'DS. 

millions to eleven-and-a-half millions.* In the enume- 
ration of Kauai, referred to above, the progeny deducible 
was about half a child for each couple that could be 
classed as men and women. 

Mr. Hill, writing of the year 1849, comparing the 
waste of life in white and coloured populations, re- 
marks : — 

In the islands of the West Indies, and in those near the 
coast of Africa, quite free from the pestilential malaria of the 
continental shores, and possessing a similar soil to that of these 
islands and a not very dissimilar vegetation, beneath the most 
brilhant skies and amidst the abundance of Nature, the white 
man withers and dies, while the native flourishes; but in the 
islands of the Pacific the white man lives, while the native 
dies at such a fearful ratio as to threaten the speedy depopu- 
lation of the group. ... For the sickness generally of the 
natives we must look chiefly to causes which are perhaps 
beyond the reach of any human means to check. 

* A tabulated statement issued by authority, comparing the two 
census years 1853 and 1860, gives the foUowing results for seyen 
islands, full details of each of thdr several districts being exhibited 
therein ; — 
1853. Number of males. . .37,079 Females. .33,940 

1860 „ . ■ • -^^'^^^ .''^ • ''^''^ 

Total in 1853 .... 71,019 

„ 1860 .... 67,084 
Decrease in 1860 . . 3,93o 

Persons under twenty years, 1853 . 29,923 Above twenty 

„ 1860 . 20,829 

Decrease in 1860 . .J^ ^^^^^^^^ 

Thus the disproportion between the old and the young, the passing 
"n an'd Lt which should succeed, was ^^~-^ 
proportions being in 1853, 1 young person (under 20) to 1 3.5 , whilst 
in 1860 the ratio had sunk to 1 young person to 2-216 old. 





CAUSES OF DEPOPULATION. 



o-r. 



Still more recently, the author of ' Progress of Events ' 
remarking on the decay of the Hawaiian race, says :— 

Many Avill attribute this decrease entirely to the intercourse 
with men from civilized lands ; and that doubtless has had 
much effect in one respect—the introduction of disease, which, 
from the universal hcendousness of the people, has been widely 
disseminated, and of which the numerous sores and cutaneous 
affections to be seen among them are melancholy evidence : 
but in other respects the intercourse with foreigners has had 
no share in this depopulation ; for in secluded districts and 
unfrequented islands of the group, where ardent spirits are 
quite unknown, and where no white men (save missionaries) 
reside, the decrease of the population is even more rapid than 
m the country surrounding places where white residents are 
concentrated, and which shipping frequents. 

The oppressive system of government, the discontinuance of 
ancient sports, and consequent change in the habits of the 
people, have been powerful agents in this work of depopu- 
lation; and the ill-judged enforcement of cruel punishments 
and heavy penalties for breaches of chastity have much aided 
it, by giving an additional stimulus to the practice— always 
too common among Polynesian females— of causing abortion, 
of which practice sterility is the natural result. 

We have treated this painful topic as slightly and 
delicately as possible, consistently with giving any view 
at all of the causes affecting the decay of the Polynesian 
population. To have observed greater reticence would 
have been simply to have left the subject untouched; 
and to have afforded no data for after-considerations as 
to the conservation of a very iDteresting race, which the 
philanthropist may still hope to see ' take root down- 
wards and bear fruit upwards ' as Heaven rains in greater 
measures its healing influences on these nations. 

It is true that some of the missionaries of whom 
Mr. Wyllie made his enquiries, and Dr. Armstrono- 



376 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

himself, the President of the Board of Education, speak 
in the language almost of despair as to the chances of 
preserving the native race. ' Tt is hardly worth while,' 
writes one of them, ' to seek for the best means of pre- 
servino- a people, when it is a given point that all means 
for the purpose will be alike unavailing.' And in the 
summary to the questions answered, the writers say : 
' On the whole, it is doubtful whether the native race 
will be able to withstand the shock which the over- 
whelming wave of Anglo-Saxon energy, enterprise, and 
cupidity has given it.' The active and benevolent mind 
of Mr. Wvllie seems to have imbibed some similar 
desponding views. In 1857 he writes : ' It is my frank 
belief that unless Hawaiian females can be rendered 
more pure and chaste, it is impossible to preserve the 
Hawaiian people in being. If that vice (prostitution) 
subsist, in less than a century the Hawaiian sovereign 
will have no native subjects to govern, and the besom 
of destruction will have removed this people from the 
face of the earth.' 

It is evident that unless, by some speedy interposition, 
the destroying agencies above described can be arrested 
or reduced, the unmixed Hawaiian race will follow the 
Dodo, and be extinguished within the term of our own 
generation. It has been marching with accelerating 
steps down the fatal slopes, and the remnant which yet 
remains is — 

* . . . but a wreck and residue, 
Whose only business is to perish.' 

Happily, some gleams of hope and encouragement already 
are bursting through the gloom. Reduced in number 
to little more than 70,000, the population seems to 
have touched its lowest point. Some of the causes of 



EFFORTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 377 

destruction are diminished. Oppression, which makes 
wise men mad, is past. The falling-off of the whaling 
trade of the North Pacific during the past few years, 
though attended at first with the inconvenience of a 
corresponding decrease of revenue and commercial 
activity, is one of the greatest benefits the islands could 
have received. ' The crowd of whalers, which visited all 
the Hawaiian ports and roadsteads, greatly increased de- 
pravity, and propagated fell disease among the natives, 
which evil of course was propagated back among the 
visitors of the islands. The false stimulus given by the 
whaling trade drew all the energy of the islands to the 
coasts, and left their interior resources undeveloped, 
or only utilized for the fattening of herds and the 
production of vegetables. 

The attention of legislators, physicians, and philan- 
thropists has been powerfully drawn to the preservation 
of the race; and government has engaged itself with 
plans tending to regulate and confine vices, which it 
may be out of its power to extirpate entirely. Its recent 
enactments on the subject of prostitution have reduced 
the number of the hetserae of the streets, and the assign- 
ment of a syphilitic ward in the new Queen's Hospital 
at Honolulu has already saved many lives, and been 
attended with the most marked sanitary advantages. 
These well-intended regulations, dehberately framed°by 
the two houses, affecting public women, have led to a 
protracted discussion, and no small amount of obloquy 
has been cast on the legislative body in consequence. 
The actions of government receive a very free criticism 
in one or two of the newspapers published in Honolulu, 
and the governing body has been severely and some- 
times intemperately attacked, for its endeavours to 
control a vice it has not power to abolish. The 



'''"'■•-- »-»v r,» 



378 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Missionary journal can see no distinction between 
regulating a vicious condition of society and the open 
encouragement and legislation of vice. It views the 
syphilitic ward of the Queen's Hospital as a direct 
premium for the continuance of a state of things which 
the legislature ought, in its opinion, to have made vanish 
with a magician's wand, or to have exorcised with an 
apostle's power. It shuts its eyes to the absolute bene- 
fits which the community has already received from 
medical treatment of the disease, both in its terrible 
and destructive effects on the subjects of it, and the 
check it has given to its spread even within the twelve 
months that the hospital has been open for patients. 
It demands war to the knife against sin and the sinner, 
— unenquiring condemnation and unpitying punish- 
ment. In the meantime government feels its hands 
strengthened by the approbation of enlightened ob- 
servers, and by the progress already made in decreasing 
the power of a scourge which had been steadily deci- 
mating its subjects. 

But it is to higher influences we must look for the 
possible salvation and regeneration of the Hawaiian 
nation. The instrument must clearly be the inculcation 
■ of a pure and gentle religion ; a holy and exalted doc- 
trine, illustrated and made living by the Christian 
conduct and self-denying lives of its professors and its 
teachers. Such influences have already had some weight ; 
but there has been about former efforts of the American 
missionaries a ^ hidden want,' which shows that vital 
power is lacking, the loving power which works by 
assimilation, — the leaven which must permeate the 
mass and take hold of the affections and will of the 
natives, and convert them not into hypocrites but 
Christians. Whilst in some districts the more open 



'AT SPES NON FRACTA.' 379 

forms of vice have been aboKshed, and some of the 
wasting sins which have been alluded to have almost 
entirely vanished, the bulk of the people are Christians 
only in name. Independents and Eornanists frankly 
avow the smallness of their success in producing a vital 
change. There remains for trial the efforts of the 
English Church. We wait to see what may be the 
effect on the Hawaiian mind of the beauty of her holi- 
ness, which has usually been made more conspicuous 
and intense in missionary spheres. That rehgion which 
bears on its credentials that it is pure, must also show 
itself gentle. It is not the rod of the avenger, but the 
staff of the shepherd, which will reclaim the sheep that 
have wandered, and guard and lead the lambs of the 
flock. Barnabas may prevail where Boanerges is 
powerless. 

To take the young Hawaiian girls at an age so early 
that even they have not been contaminated, to keep 
them as in a parental home, to watch them by day and 
night, and screen them from sights and sounds of im- 
purity, to teach them to control transmitted passions, 
and to fill their minds with interesting subjects of 
thought, to befriend them always, and finally to see 
them married respectably— these are the means by 
which the nation must rise in true morality, and be- ~ 
come an increasing people— a high and inspiring task 
to those who undertake it, and in the hands of some 
Florence Nightingale an instrument of enormous power : 
a subject of earnest prayer for those who long for the 
extension of Christ's kingdom, and for the ingathering 
of the farthest isles in the day when the great trumpet 
is blown. The painter or the sentimentalist may ex- 
claim against this change of natural habit, instincts, 
picturesque attitude, this assimilation of the wild and 



380 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the beautiful to the thoughts, manners, dress, and ex- 
pression of a hackneyed Europe. Well, something 
must be sacrificed. We may have to forsake the temple 
of art, to dwell in the temple of Grod. Hawaiian maids 
may be no longer allowed to rise on the traveller's 
sight from their favourite streams, like laughing naiads ; 
they must be won from the hula dance, and led away 
from every temptation, though at some loss of natural 
beauty and grace. Clothed; and in a better mind, they 
may themselves consent, willingly, to abandon tastes 
and pursuits in which they once rejoiced, to learn a 
more enduring joy in the narrow but not uncheerful 
path that leads towards the gates of Heaven. Even 
the simplicity of their flower-garlands it may be found 
wise to lay aside, though a sigh follow the long-loved 
ornament, plucked from Nature's own wardrobe ; and a 
loving regimen may find it necessary to teach the 
Polynesian girls contentedly to walk discrowned on 
earth, that hereafter their brows may be wreathed with 
flowers which cannot wither. 




/ 



381 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

MISSIONAEY ACHIETEME.NT AND FAILURE. 

CHRISTIANITY lias now been on its trial in Hawaii 
for forty years. During all that time, its exponents 
have been United States missionaries of the Congrega- 
tional or Independent denomination. For a quarter of 
a century the Church of Rome has also had a footing 
in the islands, and during the last ten years has prose- 
lytized with activity, and greatly extended the cords 
of her tent. The Roman Church, however, dwells in 
lands foreign to the sway of the Pope, as a body of 
exiles,— or, rather, as a religious cKque, differing some- 
what in form, under the atmospheric pressure of 
Protestant opinion, from the perfect development she 
exhibits in lands which she calls her own. As she does 
not exert any direct political influence in the Sandwich 
Islands, her action is to be regarded rather as a large 
exception than as an operative rule, and we do not at 
present concern ourselves, except incidentally, with her 
communion. 

But forty years afford a fair opportunity of observing 
what life and potentiality there may be in the largest 
and most forcible form of dissent, unimpeded for "the 
greater part of that time by any rival or antagonist, 



38 2 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

and unfettered by any open connection with the State. 
If the American missionaries have not succeeded in all 
that they have attempted, or filled the large programme 
they had sketched, it is nevertheless no small work 
which they have accomplished in the Hawaiian Archi- 
pelago. In an age of ' immeasurable desires and weak 
volitions ' failure and incompleteness are seen around us 
at every step : and it is with no unfriendly hand that 
we trace the proceedings of the missionaries, and en- 
deavour to form some estimate of the ultimate effects 
and capabilities of religion as taught by them and 
exemplified in their conduct. 

We will first listen to their own voice in the summary 
of their successes given in the Annual Reports of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 
published at Boston, Mass., and to the evidence of an 
impartial observer who lately exercised his intelligent 
eyes on men and things during two months' wandering 
through the islands of Hawaii. In recording the im- 
pressions of Mr. R. H. Dana, the persons who are 
responsible for drawing up the above reports have 
quoted so much of his letters as eulogised the mis- 
sionaries. We have no right to complain that they 
omitted further remarks commendatory of the Roman 
Catholic clergy, and on other important subjects, which 
would have been unsuitable to the objects of the Report, 
if not unsatisfactory to the supporters of the mission. 
To the omitted portions of Mr. Dana's letters we shall 
have to call attention in the latter part of this chapter. 

' Before the introduction of the Gospel,' writes the Eeport of 
1859, ' a fendal despotism held the mass of the people in the 
most abject bondage. The land aU belonged to the King ; and 
all kinds of property, and even life itself, were subject to his 



IMMEDIiTE EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY. 383 

caprice. Under the benign influence of the Gospel a constitu- 
tional monarchy has been introduced.- Lands have been 
divided among chiefs and peoples, and a feesimple title given. 
A Hberal constitution and an enlightened system of laws have 
been adopted. The lower house of the legislature, which meets 
biennially, is chosen by the universal suffi-age of the people 
Regular courts of law are established throughout the Islands' 
with a supreme court at the metropolis. Life and property 
are as safe as in any nation of the earth. Taxes are light, and 
the government is administered on just and economical princi- 
ples. Industry, comfortable houses, a civilised dress, and the 
other blessings of civilisation follow in the train of these 
changes. Foreign aid, of various kinds, is called in to help 
forward this onward progress ; but Christianity has been the 
foundation and support of aU these improvements.' 

Claiming for Christianity the material prosperity and 
advancement of the Islands, the Report of I860 chal- 
lenges comparison of their condition in the year 1820and 
the fortieth year after. In national finance, the public 
income, in two years ending the 31st March, 1860, was 
^600,866, and the expenditure ;^643,088. The imports 
in the year 1859 were ^^1,089,660, and the exports 
^931,329. The judicial statistics show the convictions 
in 1859 to have been 4,007, exhibiting a decrease of 800 
on the previous year. Two-thirds of the entire number 
of persons convicted were for drunkenness, fornication, 
and adultery ; whilst there were only nine convictions 
for burglary, and a portion of these may have been 
foreigners. Attention is called to public improvements 
viz., the water-supply of Honolulu, the inter-island 
steamer, the harbour-dredging, &c. Coming to subjects 
more cognate to the special work of a religious mission, 
the income raised by the school-tax fn 1859 wn^ 
^31,491. 



384 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



The number of Free Schools in that year was 

The number of scholars 

Schools in which English is taught 

Native youths in the latter . 

White children in school 

Mixed children in do. . 

Total number in the schools 



5ar was 


285 




8628 




16 


' 


804 




. 190 




166 




. 9782 



More noticeable, perhaps, is fhe fact that the Hawaiians 
are themselves missionaries, and possess a missionary 
vessel, the ' Morning Star,' which keeps up communi- 
cation with the stations established in the Marquesan 
and Micronesian groups, making occasional visits to 
other islands. The Marquesan mission is supported by 
the Hawaiian ^churches,' which contributed for the 
purpose 1^1,918 — the total receipts of the Hawaiian 
Missionary Society being ;^3,3 1 0. The people are liberal 
in supporting their ministers and edifices, — very liberal 
considering their small means. At Lahaina the inha- 
bitants of the town had expended ^4,341 in rebuilding 
their meeting-house. 

We turn now to Mr. Dana's excerpted remarks, 
contained in the Mission Eeport of 1860, and quote 
the passage of the report which contains them in 
extenso : — 

' It is no small thing to say of the missionaries of the American 
Board,' says a gentleman who visited the Sandwich Islands the 
past year, and wrote thence, ' that in less than forty years 
they have taught this whole people to read and to write, to 
cipher and to sew. They have given them an alphabet, 
grammar, and dictionary ; preserved their language from ex- 
tinction ; given it a hterature, and translated into it the Bible, 
and works of devotion, science, and entertainment, &c. They 
have established schools, reared up native teachers, and so 
pressed their work that now the proportion of inhabitants who 



DANA ON THE MISSIONARIES. 385 

can read and write is greater than in New England • and 
whereas they found these islanders a nation of half-naked 
savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish 
fightnig among themselves, tyrannised over by feudal chiefs' 
and abandoned to sensuality, they now see them decently 
clothed, recognising the law of marriage, knowing something of 
accounts, gomg to school and public worship with more regu- 
larity than the people do at home -and the more elevated of 
them taking part in conducting the affairs of the constitutional 
monarchy under which they live, holding seats on the 
judicial bench and in the legislative chambers, and fining posts 
in the local magistracies.' 

The gentleman who writes thus is Kichard H. Dana Esq 
a respected member of the Episcopal Church, and of the 
Boston Bar, who describes himself as, in the two months spent 
m the Islands, ' the guest of many of the mission families 
more or less acquainted with nearly all of them.' After com- 
mending their hospitality, intelligence, general information, 
and sohcitude for the education of their children, he says:— 
' I have seen in their houses coUections of minerals, shells 
plants, and flowers, which must be valuable to science; and the 
missionaries have often preserved the best, sometimes the only 
records of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other phenomena' 
and meteorological observations. Besides having given, a. I 
have said, to the native language an alphabet, grammar, dis- 
tionary, and hterature, they have done nearly alHhat has been 
done to preserve the national traditions, legends, and poetry 
But for the missionaries, it is my firm belief that the Ha- 
waiian would never have been a written language ; there would 
have been few or no trustworthy early records, historical or 
scientific; the traditions would have perished; the native go- 
vernment would have been overborne by foreign influences • 
and the interesting, intelligent, gentle race would have sunk 
into insignificance, and perhaps into seiwitude to the dominant 
whites.' 

The testimony is so explicit that the Committee make 

farther extracts from the letters of Mr. Dana : 

CO 



^1 

386 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

* Among the traders, shipmasters, and traveHers who have 
visited these Islands, some have made disparaging statements 
respecting the missionaries; and a good deal of imperfect in- 
formation is carried home by persons who have visited only the 
half-Europeanised ports, where the worst view of the condition 
of the natives is presented. I visited among all classes— the 
foreign merchants, traders and shipmasters, foreign and native 
officials, and with the natives, from the King and several of 
his chiefs, to the humblest poor, whom I saw without constraint 
in a tour I made alone over Hawaii, throwing myself upon 
their hospitahty in their huts. I sought information from all, 
foreign and native, friendly and unfriendly; and the conclusion 
to which I came is, that the best men, and those who are best 
acquainted with the history of things here, hold in high esteem 
the labours and conduct of the missionaries. 

^Doubtless the missionaries have largely influenced the 
legislation of the kingdom and its police system; it is fortunate 
they have done so. Influence of some kind was the law of 
the native development. Had not the missionaries and their 
friends among the foreign merchants and professional men 
been in the ascendant, these Islands would have presented only 
the usual history of a handful of foreigners exacting everything 
from a people who denied their right to anything. As it is, in 
no place in the world that I have visited, are the rules which 
control vice and regulate amusement so strict, yet so reason- 
able and fairly enforced. 

*The Government and the best citizens stand as a good 
genius between the natives and the besieging army. As to 
the interior, it is well known that a man may travel alone, with 
money through the wildest spots unarmed. Having just come 
from the mountains of California, I was prepared with the 
ii«ual and necessary belt and its appendages of that region, 
but was told that these defences were unheard of in Hawaii. 
I found no hut without its Bible and hymn-book in the native 
ton-ue • and the practice of family-prayer and grace before 
meat though it be over no more than a calabash of poi and a 



I 



I 



THE MISSIONARIES ON THEMSELYES. 387 

few dried fish, and whether at home or on journeys, is as com- 
mon as in New England a century ago.' " 

These statements, with those in the Report of last year 
(which was drawn up by one of the older missionaries, then 
in this country), contain, doubtless, a correct representation 
of the results of divine grace at the Sandwich Islands. Yet 
so imperfect is the language, and so foreign to our experience is 
the social condition of the Hawaiian people, that it is difficult 
to convey correct impressions concerning them to untravelled 
mmds. The correspondence between the Prudential Com- 
mittee and their brethren at those islands on the subject of a 
native pastorate for the churches now in progress, has called 
forth some affecting representations concerning that people- 
enough ahnost to create a doubt, whether gospel institutions 
can ever become entirely self-supporting amongst them. The 
more important parts of this testimony have been published in 
the 'Missionary Herald.' The testimony, however, is stran-ely 
conflictmg; and we must suppose, either that the character of 
the people stands at very different points of elevation, on the 
scale of moral purity, in different parts of the Islands, or else 
that the witnesses take too strong views, probably on both 
sides. It must be admitted, however, that while the Chris- 
tianization of the Sandwich Islanders is as real as that of any 
nominally Christian nation in the world— the proofs of a na- 
tional Christianity being all there— the people must needs 
be far below the standard of the other Protestant Christian 
nations, which have been nominaHy Christian for ages. 

Now, we can supplement these statements with data 
from other sources. The statistics given below are 
from a government return, and a chief source of their 
interest lies in comparing the numbers against those 
of the population. In the non-census years, the number 
of the people is deduced ; — 



c c 2 



388 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



Years 



Population 



Number 

of 
Schools 



Number of 
Scholars 



1845 


• • 


640 


1846 


• • 


• • 


1847 


• • 


625 


1848 


87,063 


527 


1849 


84,165 


640 


1850 


83,988 


543 


1851 


80,620 


535 


1852 


79,650 


440 


1853 


73,137 


423 


1854 


73,079 


412 


1855 


73,032 


. 


1856 


72,740 


332 


1857 


72,338 


312 


1858 


71,954 


293 


1859 


71,275 


289 



20,000 

18,644 

19,644 

19,028 

15,620 

15,308 

15,482 

13,948 

12,205 

10,241 

8,671 
8,460 
8,628 
8,628 



Cost of 
Schools 



Average 

Days each 

School 



^20,000 
21,706 
22,319 
21,990 
25,890 
25,271 
24,049 
20,563 
20,705 

25,827 
27,578 
29,215 
34,165 



145-8 
164-1 
153-3 
137-8 
30 
127-8 
132-5 

• • 

143 
164 
192 
179 



Convictions 



3,043 
3,173 
3,571 
4,946 
3,932 
4,007 



And we select from the answers given to Mr. Wyllie's 
questions these replies, which speak greatly in favour 
of the missionaries : — 

Question 54. What fees, if any, are charged, either hy Pro- 
testants or Catholics, for baptisms, funerals, or marriages ? 

Answer. No fees have ever been charged, and no gifts are 
received in this district by Protestants for any of these services 
(Hilo, Hawaii); and the only exception in the answers to this 
question is, that a small fee or present (half-a-dollar) is received, 
sometimes, when a marriage is performed in a private house. 

Question 56. What, if any, sources of jealousy exist between 
the Protestant and Catholic missionaries and teachers ? 
Answer. None of a personal nature exist. 
Question 57. Suggestions to promote mutual concord and 

charitii 

Answer. A free and full declaration of religions sentiments 
on the part of each is not inconsistent with the most enlarged 
Christian charity. The only suggestions, therefore, to be 
offered are, that free toleration of sentiments be allowed, and a 
truly evangehcal course pursued in propagating doctrme, and 



CAUSES OP FAILUEE. 389 

that urbanity and Christian kindness characterise every move- 
ment in personal intercourse. 

And now, possibly, some will ask, in respect to the 
American missionaries, what lack they yet ?— what are 
the faults they can be charged with ? and, if these be 
their successes, what, and to what extent, are their 
failures ? 

To such questions we offer a candid and impartial 
reply. The missionaries have not attained the measure 
of success which might have been expected from the 
long and strenuous efforts they have made. They have 
not truly Christianized or regenerated the nation 
Their proceedings have been attended with grave and 
obvious faults. They have been wrong in their pre- 
sentment of Christianity to the native mind. They 
have presented Christianity as a severe, legal, Jewish 
religion, deprived of its dignity, beauty, tenderness, and 
amability. They have not made the people love 
religion. Like the Jewish Law, their system has been 
the office of a pedagogue leading children to the school 
of Christ; but the scholars have attended His porch 
reluctantly, and have gladly escaped from His teaching. 
In their rigorous Sabbatarian view of the Lord's Day, 
in their desire to enforce a Maine liquor-law, and in 
some other matters, they have attempted to infringe on 
the natural rights of men, and have in native eyes re- 
produced the detested tabu system,— the nightmare 
from which the nation escaped in 1820. 

They have been wrong in their hothouse plan of 
forcing Christianity on an unprepared people, en- 
deavouring to make them run before they could walk, 
or even stand alone ; pouring water out of buckets on 
small-mouthed phials; and, by using the means of 



390 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

secular pimisliments and espionage, converting the 
nation into hypocrites instead of Christians. They have 
been wrong in using their former great influence with 
the native government, in urging a hard repressive 
system of legislation. They have been wrong in some 
of their views of education, especially in setting their 
face against the teaching of the English language, 
although they know that the civilisation and the religion 
of Europe and America cannot be conveyed to the 
people's mind in the meagre copia verhorum of the 
Hawaiian language, which has not words to express 
ideas of every-day occurrence in the civilised world. 
They have been wrong— at least they have been un- 
fortunate—in the personal disqualifications of many of 
their teachers for their task, when so much of a mis- 
sionary's success depends upon appearance, manner, and 

knowledge. . 

They have made, indeed, an essential mistake m their 
conception of a rehgion,- producing it in a cold di- 
dactic form, with nothing to allure the heart and under- 
standing through the medium of the senses and sesthetic 
tastes. They have not chosen to see that all religions 
worthy of the name of systems, combine moral sanctions 
with an outward worship. At the commencement of 
the Scriptures we read of sacrifices and altars ; and m 
the Apocalyptic wonders which conclude the inspired 
Canon, we read of elders and living beings worshipping 
before God's throne, and the infinite choir of harpers 
sending forth their everlasting melody. 

It must not be supposed that these accusations are 
gratuitous and unfounded. They are all based on facts 
contained in many documents, and from the mouths of 
many witnesses. They lead to the conclusion that 
religion still waits to be seen in the Hawaiian Islands 



CONTINUATION OF MR. DANA's ACCOUNT. 391 

in its true colours, — winning, persuasive, holy, and 
altogether lovely. We proceed to adduce remarks from 
several late observers. 

And first we call the testimony of Mr. Dana himself, 
whose impartiality we can hardly doubt, after the kind 
and ample praise he has given of the missionaries, and 
which we have already quoted. His remarks are con- 
tained in a letter to the ^ New York Tribune ' news- 
paper. Having spoken of the Congregationalists, he 
has something to say in commendation of the Koman 
Catholic clergy : — 

I had a letter of introduction to the Eoman Catholic Bishop 
(M. Maigret), and visited several churches and schools under 
their jurisdiction, which extends over all the islands of the 
group. So far as I observed, the missions are successful : the 
churches are well filled, and the priests bear good reputations 
for fidelity and self-denial, and several whom I met I found to 
be men of thorough education. They gained, especially in 
public, esteem by their conduct during the terrible visitation 
of the smallpox a few years ago. 

The minds of the natives of this zone of the globe pecuHarly 
require something to retain their attention and interest. Tho 
missionaries have recognised this law in their schools, and find 
it expedient to fix the attention of the scholars in recitation by 
classes, by responsative and general reading and answers, by 
the use of figures on black-boards, and by maps and pictures. 
The only system of worship and discipline which the mission- 
aries have introduced has been that which is known at home 
as the Puritan or Independent, and in this they have had the 
field to themselves. The houses of worship are plain naked 
buildings, with pews and benches and a large desk, in which the 
preacher, sometimes dressed in the tweed sack-coat of the shop 
and market (or, as I once saw, with the spurs on his boots), 
stands to read, preach, and pray. The congregation sit through 
the whole service, not only never kneeling or standing in 
prayer, but not even bending the head forward in token of 



392 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

reverence. The music is solely the singing of one or two 
rhyming hymns, performed by a small choir. The congrega- 
tion have no part in the service— they are simply listeners 
from beginning to end ; young or old, learned or unlearned, 
they are expected to be attentive listeners for some two 
hours, without a word to say, a thing to do, a sound to utter 
for themselves. My observation, after attending several 
places of worship in the principal islands, is that the natives, 
except there be some stirring passage in the sermon, are 
languid and easily-distracted listeners and irreverent actors. 
In their family-worship they kneel, and are more reverent, 
being left more to their instincts. At pubHc worship they 
come in at all times, sit, look about, easily fall asleep, and 
when the last prayer ends, start for the door a good deal as 
a theatre breaks up— hardly ever waiting for the benediction. 
It is not difficult to see the Roman Catholic Church, with its 
open doors, free sittings, daily mass and vespers, its corps of 
teaching and visiting nuns, its sacramental system, its worship 
addressed to the mind and heart through the eye and ear, as 
well as by the word to the understanding ; with its service, 
which gives a part to all, and especially its system of commemo- 
rations, and, in the modern sense, its ' spiritualism ' of angels 
and departed saints, has strongly enhsted the almost vacant 

native faculties. 

As an instance, too, of the power of the accommodation 
possessed by the Roman Catholics, it is not too small a matter 
to notice that, while in the open assemblies of the American 
missionaries, the natives sit on benches in constrained attitudes, 
and come dressed in imitation of the European fashion, the 
men in black hats, boots, tight coats and trousers, and the 
women in out-of-fashion bonnets and unaccustomed shoes, — in 
the Roman Catholic places of worship, they kneel on mats and 
chairs, wearing the looser and easier dress of every day— the 
women with bare heads, and never-failing garlands of flowers 
and berries; and young men come to the porch in straw hats 
decked with flowers and green leaves. 

The subject has attracted attention in the Islands. I found 



PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF MISSIONARIES. 393 

that many who agreed with me in a high estimate of the good 
the missionaries have done, yet felt the defects of the public 
worship; and one of the missionaries told me he had long 
thought that changes must be made in their system in the 
direction of the ritual and liturgy of the English Church. 

Then as to internal and external personal qualifica- 
tions of the American missionaries, as compared with 
those of the Eoman communion. Dr. Rae, in a series of 
articles published in the 'Polynesian' during 1861, 
entitled ' Thoughts on the System of Legislation,' says 
in a footnote : — 

I do not recollect having been in any mixed company in 
these Islands where the subject of the Protestant mission was 
introduced, without hearing either a sneer, a sarcasm, or a 
reproach against it. On the other hand, wherever I have been, 
and with whomsoever I have met, I have never encountered 
one, except in controversy, who did not speak in terms of 
respect of the Catholic priesthood. Some have expressed 
surprise, that men could be found at this time of day thus 
to sacrifice their lives; some have spoken of their culte 
as savouring of superstition ; but all have granted them the 
praise of sincere self-devotion— all have expressed a desire that 
their labours might benefit the natives. I simply note a fact- 
it is for the reader to draw the conclusion. 

The same writer, remarking more especially on the 
hitherto prevalent system of legislation, brought about 
by the missionaries, says : — 

Those in the seat of power will deceive themselves into the 
belief that their preaching has made true Christians of the 
whole population, or, at least, that it ought to have done so • 
and they will proceed to mete out punishments against 
transgressors of what they conceive to be Christian morality, 
with all the severity of their fathers in the days of the ' blue 
laws.' A code of coercive morahty ^vill be established, which 



394 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

would not be submitted to by any European or American 
community, but which the Hawaiians, accustomed to bend to 
the will of their superiors, will not resist, but will evade. 
"From this source a tissue of lying and deception will spring 
up and spread among them, pushing its poisonous meshes 
through every household, and everywhere contaminating and 
destroying the native virtues of the people. For it were 
altogether a mistake to imagine that virtue—though that 
virtue may be of the earth earthy— does not exist in this 
race. They have ever had a right and a wrong— a pono and 
a pono ole—no words are more frequent in their mouths ; 
and then their native virtues have hitherto sufficed to give 
prosperity to the land— to give industry to the man, fecundity 
to the woman. Destroy them— give nothing better in their 
place— and you take from their system every sustaining 
prop, and cause it to fall to the ground in, it may be, 
irremediable confusion. 

Again, in commenting on the Queen's Hospital, the 
editor of the ' Polynesian,' in an article dated July 6, 
1861, writes: — 

There is one fact, as revealed by these reports, to which, sad 
and disgraceful as it is, we must nevertheless call the attention 
of the civilisers— the instructors and preachers of this people, 
who think that all morality lies in the Hawaiian spelling-book, 
and that the principles of civilisation culminate in vulgar 
fractions; and it is this-that out of the 373 women on the 
register (of public women), 220 were married women, having 
lived apart from their husbands for a longer or shorter period, 
while 23 were actually living with their husbands while 
professedly leading a life of vice and infamy! How low the 
moral condition of these people must be, it is fearful to con- 
template. What a mockery of the marriage institution ! How 
horribly loose the bonds which sanctify and knit together 
society! What revolting examples! What hideous prospects 
for the unhappy children of such unions ! We have seen vice 
and depravity in their most loathsome forms in numerous 



AN INOPEEATIYE KELiaiON. 395 

other cities; ****** yet never was it known 
before that two-thirds of the abandoned women in any place 
were recruited from the marriage-bed. And where are the 
husbands of these lost ones ? We hazard nothing in saying 
that the greater part are living in adultery with other women. 
And thus morahty is undermined, and society crumbles from 
its very foundations. And yet we are asked to admire and 
let alone an educational system, which indirectly does not 
prevent such results in this people, by leaving the religious in- 
struction of the young heart to the operation of chance or 
of political convenience; and that too when, as is well known, 
(and must of necessity be the case with a people so lately 
emerged from barbarism), an abiding moral sentiment and 
religious duty are not imbibed with the mother's milk, but 
must be engrafted on the rising generation, by whatever 
means, at whatever sacrifice, so great an object may require. 

Forty years' assiduous evangelising — two entire generations 
bom and bred in the Christian faith — public schools in every 
village — religious revivals almost - every year — praj'-er- 
meetings innumerable, — and yet two-thirds of the abandoned 
women married persons! The thing is incredible were it not 
attested. And when we remonstrate against such a state of 
things, we are called a 'crazy fanatic,' and coolly told that 'the 
gradual change of time' will repair all present ills: — in the 
grave, we surmise. 

We need not pursue such testimony. Eeligion as 
taught by the American missionaries, zealously, fiercely, 
has hitherto failed to affect the hearts of the mass. 
Many superior natives have doubtless submitted them- 
selves earnestly to the yoke, and a few guileless 
Nathaniels may be reckoned among ten thousands of 
professors; but the national morality is not what it 
should be, — the nation is not regenerated. 

Estranged for many years from, or originally ignorant 
of, the old paths of established religion, the missionaries 



396 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

have committed mistakes, wliicli, tliough lamentable, 
may be pardonable in those who made them. No 
wonder that the Koman Church saw an opportunity in 
this failure, and succeeded in winning a large propor- 
tion of the people to her banner. It is true that the 
natives were perplexed at the entire difference between 
two religions, each of which called itself by the name 
of Christ ; and, in the homage paid before images of the 
Virgin and the Saviour, thought they saw a return to 
their old idolatry. But they felt the attractiveness of 
the forms of worship, and they felt relief at a system 
of dependence on a conscience not their own. 

Obedience, says Sir James Stephen, prompt, absolute, blind 
and unhesitating. . . . such submission, however arduous 
in appearance, is, in reahty, the least irksome of all self-sacri- 
fices. The mysterious gift of freewill is the heaviest burthen 
of the vast multitude of mankind. . . . Men everywhere 
desire to walk by sight, not by faith— to obey the stern com- 
mand of a superior, if so they may be absolved from hstening 
to the still small voice of conscience — to bear the yoke of 
spiritual bondage, if so they may escape the fatigue of study, 
the labour of meditation, the pains of doubt, and the anxieties 
of mental freedom.* 

Well, the missionaries have made many mistakes, and 
not among the least is the impatience they have shown 
for rapid and immense results. But forty missionary 
families, even if no earthly interest ever attracted them, 
are not numerous enough to convert a heathen nation 
in forty years to an all-permeating Christianity. To 
bring up a couple of children as true Christians may 
well, and almost exclusively, occupy many years of their 
parents' lives ; and can the most zealous rehgionist hope 
that partial efforts on 80,000 human beings, surrounded 
* Essays. ' Founders of Jesuitism.' 



THE TEACHING OF EXAMPLE. 397 

by many temptations, should be crowned with a so 
much larger and more rapid success ? The mistake of 
the missionaries was a very common one — they were 
treating symptoms instead of the disease. Outward 
acts, which were but eruptive indications of the inward 
ailment, they sought to get rid of by a severe repressive 
hygiene. The disease under which the patient suffered 
was one of the heart — and the heart they had not 
touched, and scarcely prescribed for. Yet, had this 
charge been made against the missionaries, they would 
possibly have replied, indignantly, that they had gone 
to the fountain-head of all cure ; that they had taught 
the Hawaiians the highest heights of theology ; that they 
had set before them the doctrines of the Trinity, Justifi- 
cation, Original Sin, and that great mystery, which 

< — binding Nature fast in Fate, 
Left free the human will.' 

Alas ! between that transcendental teaching and the 
actual workings of a depraved nature, there was a great 
chasm which their doctrine did not bridge over. A 
more simple and parental education was required — line 
upon line and precept upon precept, but patiently and 
lovingly applied, and dropped like the gentle dew from 
heaven. As the angler casts his fly dehcately upon the 
water, watches, waits, withdraws it, and throws it again, 
so the fisher of souls must by many tentative essays 
perseveringly strive to catch men. Men will not be 
driven into Christianity like sheep into a pen ; and the 
human heart refuses to be transformed by enactments 
penalties, and imprisonments. Of means within our 
own power for religious advancement, the contemplation 

of examples is the most certain and the most powerful 

to gaze on holiness in fellow-men, and, most of all, to 
gaze upon the Prince of Purities, until He becomes in 



398 HAWMIAN ISLANDS. 

our eyes 'fairest among ten thousand and altogetlier 
lovely.' ' It is the burthen of Xavier's letters,' writes 
Sir James Stephen, ' that the living exhibition of the 
Christian character is the first great instrument of 
Christian conquest over idolatry, and that the incul- 
cation of elementary truth is the second.' 



399 



CHAPTEE XXV. 

GLANCES AT THE PAST AND GUESSES AT THE FUTUEE. 

THE day upon wliicli Hawaii has entered is one in 
which the light is neither clear nor dark. She ranks 
among the family of nations, as the last baby in a 
household, when it can speak and run, is gradually ad- 
mitted into the companionship and games of its brothers 
and sisters. The isolation of her position in the centre 
of the ocean gives a special value and interest to the 
group, but leaves it open to every assailant that chooses 
to bring a frigate's broadside to bear on the capital. 
Her defences must be the equal treaties of other nations, 
supported by mutual jealousies, rather than the sixty 
guns of the forts of Honolulu. But treaties, even, will 
not guard her from the testy act of one foreign govern- 
ment in the absence of the others' ships of war, or from 
piratical and filibustering expeditions. Like the mid- 
night pull at the house-bell, the annoyer will have 
vanished before the arrival of the police, and the whole 
strength of a division will not repair the injury done to 
the nerves of the disturbed inmates. 

Under the guarantee of America, France, and England, 
writes Sir George Simpson, referring to the period of his visit 
(1843), the Sandwich Islands are secured as effectually as any 
other community against foreign interference, excepting that, 



400 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

from their position and the inexperience of their rulers, they 
are peculiarly liable to come into collision with the very 
powers that have guaranteed their independence. Their posi- 
tion alone, with respect to the trading interests of England and 
America, will render neutrality extremely difficult, if not alto- 
gether impossible, in the melancholy event of a war between 
those kindred states ; while any infringement of the law of 
nations in this respect will be sure to lead to the occupation of 
the group on the part of England, either as the avenger of her 
own wrongs, or as a protector against the vengeance of America. 
But, unlike this occasional danger, the inexperience of their 
rulers is a rock on which they maybe dashed at any time with 
fatal effect; and within these few short years the cause in 
question has placed the native government at the mercy both 
of France and of England. 

During the progress of the Crimean war, the possible 
extension of which was uncertain, the King, Kameha- 
meha III. issued a proclamation of neutrality, with a 
prohibition to his subjects to engage, directly or indi- 
rectly, in privateering. Such a step may be cynically 
compared to the frogs in the fable protesting against 
the battle of the bulls. Admitting the similitude, it 
must be granted that the danger which threatened the 
Hawaiian kingdom from an European war was that 
which the frogs deprecated, and theirs was a situation 
in which insignificance would not act as a safeguard. 

On the breaking out of hostilities between the states 
of North America, a similar manifesto was issued. The 
proclamation is as follows : — 

Kamehameha IV., King of the Hawaiian Islands. 

Be it known to all whom it may concern, that we, Kame- 
hameha IV., King of the Hawaiian Islands, having been offi- 
cially notified that hostilities are now unhappily pending 
between the Government of the United States and certain 



PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY. 40i 

States thereof styling themselves ^The Confederate States of 
America,' hereby proclaim our neutrality between said 
contending parties. 

That our neutrality is to be respected to the full extent of 
our jurisdiction, and that all captures and seizures made within 
the same are unlawful, and in violation of our rio-hts as a 
sovereign. ^ 

And be it further known, that we hereby strictly prohibit 
all our subjects, and all who reside or may be within our juris- 
diction, from engaging, either directly or indirectly, in priva- 
teering against the shipping or commerce of either of the 
contending parties, or of rendering any aid to such enterprises 
whatever; and all persons so offending wiU be liable to the 
penalties imposed by the laws of nations, as well as by the 
laws of said states ; and they will in nowise obtain any pro- 
tection from us as against any penal consequence which they 
may incur. -^ 

Be it further knoAvn, that no adjudication of prizes will be 
entertained within our jurisdiction, nor wiU the sale of o-oods 
or other property belonging to prizes be allowed. ^ 

Be it further known, that the rights of asylum are not 
extended to the privateers or their prizes of either of the con- 
tendmg parties, excepting only in cases of distress or of com- 
pulsory delay by stress of weather or dangers of the sea, or in 
such cases as may be regulated by treaty stipulation. 

Given at our Marine Eesidence of Kailua, this 26th day of 
August, A.D. 1861, and the Seventh of Our Reign. 

Kamehameha. 
By the King, Kaahumanu. 

By the King and Kuhina Nui, 

R. C. WyUie. 

The ' Polynesian,' the government organ, in repeating 
the foregoing proclamation, remarks :— 

To proclaim neutraHty, however, is one thino-, and to 
enforce it is another. Strong and powei-ful governments are 

D D 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

seldom imposed upon in this respect; and when they are they 

JhtthTmselves as the occasion may caU for,-as the Unrted 

ixgh. tliemseiY j^ ^itlj Russia, when they 

;rtht E:;tl i/er ^s passports for violating the 
sent the Mg ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ p^^^^.^ ^^y 

Xltri t^7^;L to repel or resent an infraction of 
^hir reality. StiU, if they have done the. b-t^and shown 
Tproper disposition and spirit, there is no doub that m 
Ls^ ce and international law and equity, the mil wil be taken 
CZLe., and such a power be held guiltless an the eyes of 

the world.* 

If, therefore, whilst the Hawaiian ^^Sf-^J^^ 

for peace other nations make them ready to battle, the 

Lfdoe; not lie at the door of the former Peace, 

S all its arts and advancements, the gentle plants 

;t flourish in its soil, is --^^ ^tp'^sS 
which Hawaii must earnestly pray ; but it '^'i^'^^' "^l 
rhe prudence of her rulers to avoid stepping on the 
?o nfor the gout of the nationalities with which she is 
Woulht into'close coatact. And for the eventuates 
o private invasion there can be no guarantee Upon 

^ . 1 A.rih\^ flanker has threatened, ine 
two occasions already this danger nab 

first of these is thus announced m the King s speech 
thelSthof April, 1852:— 

..e peace of ^ ^::^-:r^^T'\r^^ 

promptly acted upon by Captam Gardner of the W 
Itates- slip .Vandalia,'tran<iuiffi.edthe P";Wi« -f . ^ I ha, e 
taken some measures to create a military force 
Such a force is considered in<i-P--We ^^ ^nabk 
protect efficiently the lives and property of aU who 



¥r < 



Polynesian,' Sept. U, 1861. 



THREATENED INVASIONS. 403 

my dominion. It will be for you to provide the means of 
mamtammg such a force permanently, so as that the very 
defencelessness of my kingdom may not invite the evil- 
disposed to invade it. 

On the second occasion of danger the King issued a 
proclamation— the last made before his death; — 

Whereas, it has come to my knowledge from the highest 
ofiicial sources, that my government has been recently 
threatened with overthrow by lawless violence ; and, whereas, 
the representatives at my Court of the United States, Great 
Britain, and France, being cognizant of these threats, have 
offered me the prompt assistance of the naval forces of their 
respective countries; I hereby publicly proclaim my ac- 
ceptance of the aid thus proffered in support of my sovereignty 
My mdependence is more firmly estabhshed than ever before. 

■D 1 o^-u T^ 1 KaMEHAMEHA. 

Palace, 8th December, 1854. 

Eeading the future by the past, the necessity for 
keepmg up some military defences and a small standing 
army seems to be established. The very efficient vo- 
lunteer rifle corps, now of several years' standing, and a 
considerable body of police, render a large number of 
regular troops unnecessary. The inherent courage of 
the race would, with a very little preparation, offer a 
strong resistance to attempts of violence. 

In the contest of progress in the arts and civilization 
the monarchs of the dynasty of Kamehameha have 
shown themselves determined not to be kings of Colo 
phonia. Indeed, their avid adoption of the luxuries and 
etiquette of European nations appeared for many years 
precocious and disproportioned to the general state of 
the nation. The passion of the chiefs for European 
luxuries was remarked by Beechey when he visited the 
islands in 1827, and was the more extraordinary at that 



D B 2 




404 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



time in a nation which had so lately emerged from bar- 
barism. He mentions that articles of American manu- 
facture, the productions of the China market, wmes &c 
were found in the stores or shops of Honolulu There 
were at that period two hotels and two bi hard rooms 
Ka^humanu's house was furnished with silk and velvet 
fofaScushions. She had chests filled with themost 
costly silks of China. The chief Boki paid three thou- 
sand dollars for a service of plate to be presented to 
the King, notwithstanding be had other services for the 
table in his possession, one of which was of expensive 
cut glass from Pellatt and Green in London. The Kmg 
was always attended by a guard under arms. Admiral 
Beechey remarks on the unusual advance which had 
been made in the islands so remote and holding so little 
intercourse with the civilized world, and he expresses a 
bop that it may not prove too rapid to be advan a- 
„eous to the country, which had already several ex- 
pensive establishments to maintain and extravagant 
[dea. to satisfy.* In education he tbo-ft/'J^ Pe- 
eress slower 'than every well-wisher of the country 
:ould desire. . • • Many of the natives remam 
Lnorant even of the nature of the prayers they 
repeat; and in other subjects are entirely uninstructed. 
The missionaries appear to be very anxious to diffuse a 
due knowledge of the tenets of the Gospel among all 
the inhabitants, and have laboured much to accomplish 
SeirpraiseworW purpose ; but the residents m Hono- 
ulu well know what little effect their exertions have 
plduced, probably on account of the tutors having 
Mistaken the means of diffusing education. In the 
Sandwich Islands, as in all other places, there is a mama 

* ' Voyage of the " Blossom," ' ii. 97, at seq. 



^ ^. 



PRECOCIOUS CIVILIZATION. 405 

for everything new, and, with due reverence to the 
subject, this was very much the case with religion in 
Honolulu, where almost every person might be seen 
hastening to the school with a slate in his hand, in the 
hope of being able soon to translate some part of the 
jpala pala (Scriptures).' At a later period the adoption 
of the code of etiquette of Vienna showed 'an un- 
bounded stomach' to rank with old and advanced 
nations. The method and language of the diplomatic 
correspondence of the Hawaiian government has called 
forth expressions of surprise and praise in Paris. At 
the present time, crinoline is as expansive, rooms as 
well lighted, evening assemblies and morning picnics 
as agreeable, and beauty probably more abundant in 
Honolulu than in London and other capitals. Whether 
these things are desirable is another matter. Older 
civilizations, those which eventually enlarged themselves 
and became permanent, began in a hardy plainness, 
and slowly ' degreed themselves ' in conveniences and 
luxury. Marco Polo found the nomadic population of 
Tartary using paper-money. This prophetic dash at 
currency science has not made the hordes advance in 
other respects. The iron money of Sparta was perhaps 
as desirable in her early days as if her sons had carried 
about notes issued by the bank of Lacedsemon. Indeed, 
restraint is necessary even in national progress, lest a 
spurious and showy external cover a low and inchoate 
civilization in essential things. To desire to advance 
in arts and politeness is good, but the feet must not run 
as fast as the aspirations. 

Were the crawling caterpillar to feel within himself the 
wings that are to be, and to be haunted with the intuitive 
forebodings of the time when he shall hover above flowers and 
meadows, and expatiate in heavenly air— yet the wisdom of 



406 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

that caterpillar would be to remember liis present business on 
the leaf— to feed on green herbs and weave his nest, lest, losing 
himself in dreams, he should never become a winged insect at 
all* 

The advance of national prosperity, as indicated by 
income and expenditure, has been, on the whole, satis- 
factory. It is an undisputed fact that commerce is in 
every country subject to fluctuations, and that its periods 
of exaltation and depression have something of the 
regularity of cycles. It is wise, therefore, not to over- 
estimate the permanence of high activity, or to despair 
when the tide runs out, as if it never would return. 
But these violent fluctuations have their use in throwing 
commercial energy into new directions. The Hawaiian 
Islands had grown to depend too exclusively on the 
great North Pacific whaling fleet. In providing meat, 
vegetables, and some other articles for the whalers, 
ready markets were found on its shores, and the activity 
of the people for good and for evil was on the surface 
of the islands, whilst interior resources were much 
neglected. The whales, thinking that fishing had been 
carried to fanaticism, or from other motives, began, 
several years ago, to forsake their habitat. Disappoint- 
ment and loss to those engaged in the pursuit was the 
consequence, and year after year the trade of Hawaii 
declined. The tables of imports and exports show a 
corresponding diminution in their figures ; and as the 
scarcity of whales appears to have become permanent, 
some of the business houses have withdrawn from the 
islands; the fine herds on the pastures are compara- 
tively worthless, and are being replaced with sheep, 
rice, and other sources of wealth. Things are m a 

* Eobertson's Lectures on Corintliians. 



TEANSITIONAL STATE OF TRADE.. 407 

state of transition, painful at the moment, but fraught 
with future benefit. If the Hawaiians resolutely turn 
their faces inland, and ' develope the resources of their 
islands,' the present pinch will do more for their eventual 
prosperity, and effect more moral change, than if the 
whales had laid their prejudices aside and had continued 
to be caught in greater numbers than before. 

The following Table of revenue and expenditure 
between the years 1845 and 1860 exhibits a fair fiscal 
progress; not indeed uniform, but, on the contrary, 
indicating one or two panic years, with a consequent 
sudden fluctuation. The last two biennial periods show 
that the decrease of whaling success was telling upon 
the commercial prosperity of the islands. 

The imports, as far as they depend on home con- 
sumption, have been no doubt affected, also, by the decay 
of the population ; but the degree to which the defect 
in numbers has acted cannot be so well ascertained, be- 
cause although the people have been, till lately, decreas- 
ing, new customers among the islands have been brought 
into contact with foreign productions by the openin^y 
of roads and facilities for inter-island communication. 
There is a great deal of locomotive activity among the 
Hawaiians. Thus in the first nine months of 1861, 5,093 
passengers arrived at Honolulu by sailing vessels, and 
3,762 by steamer, making together 8,855 passengers. 
As an equal number may be supposed to have left the 
capital in the same time, the entire number of passengers 
during the three first quarters of the year will be 17,716, 
or nearly one-fourth of the population. During the 
same period 489 persons arrived at Honolulu from 
abroad, and as many left. This internal communication 
is likely to increase, and another steamer is intended to 
commence running among the islands. 



408 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



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TABLE OF IMPOETS. 



409 



In a former chapter a table of population was given, 
with deduced numbers for those years in which no 
census was taken ; those figures lead to the inference 
that the downward progress of the people has at last 
ceased, and that the coming years may present more 
cheering results.* 

The following Tables exhibit the import trade of the 
Sandwich Islands in the years 1845 to 1859, and the 
shares which the several nations have contributed with 
whom there has been a direct trade : — 



;^546,939 

598,391 

710,143 

60,5,114 

729,734 

1,035,053 

1,791,080 

619,635 

1,375,130 

1,540,697 

1,334,430 

1,118,614 

873,134 

759,383 

1,173,366 



Value of 


Imports 


in 1845 


» 


}> 


1846 


» 


» 


1847 


» 


}) 


1848 


>> 


>> 


1849 


>j 


>> 


1850 


>» 


>» 


1851 


» 


» 


1852 


>f 


»j 


1853 


» 


» 


1854 


'> 


» 


1855 


>> 


j> 


1856 


>» 


» 


1857 


5J 


j> 


1858 



JJ 



1859 



Participation of foreign nations in the direct import 
trade during the same period : — 

America (United States) : Atlantic and Pacific ports . 

Great Britain : British ports and colonies . 

France : French ports direct 



;^8, 635,405 

2,897,380 

71,937 



* It is quite certain that population will increase in the direction of 
half-breeds, of fairer skin than their mothers, — but whether with higher 
virtues remains to be tested. The half-blood race in Mexico has cer- 
tainly not led to the conclusion of great good arising from human 
hybridizing ; but the future is all uncertain. Strange things have hap- 
pened, and do happen, and in the last twelve months a mule has given 
birth to a fine foal in the islands. (1862.) 



410 ^^ HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Bremen ^^422,441 

CMli 521,631 

Central America 4,593 

China . ■. 995,734 

Fanning's Island • • 8,882 

Hamburg 378,105 

Kamschatka and Sitka 53,863 

Mexico • 70,768 

Philippine Islands 109,145 

Society Islands 106,693 

Sea. Whalers ; and from other Ports .... 530,377 

Japan I'l^^ 

Peru ^-^^ 

Ascension Island . . . •'• • • • ^^^ 

Jards's Island • • • 1,421 

Marquesas Islands ^^ 

French Frigate Shoals ^^5 

M'Kean's Island . . 55 

Total $UMOM^ 

In 1864, the value of imports was ^^1,712,241, and 
the value of exports, including supplies to whalers, was 

[,113,329. 

The principal article on which the excess is found, is 
sugar, of which 4,649 tons were exported in 1864, against 
1,065 tons in 1861. Increased attention has been paid 
to rice, and a considerable quantity of land has been 
thrown into its cultivation. Its quality is said to be 
equal to the finest Carolina. The sugar and coffee also 
grown in Hawaii are of very fine quality. The coffee 
plantations had suffered for several successive years very 
greatly from the blight which infests the plants in 
Ceyion, called the white and the black bug. The last 
accounts from the islands bring the intelligence that 
the coffee crop is again improving, new trees having 
been planted. The young trees do not suffer so readily 
from the blight; and as there is abundance of land 
applicable to coffee growing, a succession of young crops 



STAPLE PEODUCTS OF THE ISLANDS. 411 

may probably be resorted to, till the scourge has been 
eradicated from the old trees by running sheep among 
them, thinning plantations, and other experimental 
means. 

Coffee and sugar, then, with wool and hides, may be 
set down as the great future staples of the islands. 
The sugar cane, says a very late observer, continues to 
grow for two years, and attains a size which is almost 
incredible. The quantity raised per acre is about two 
tons ; but four and even six tons have often been ob- 
tained. As labour, including the labourer's food, costs 
only eight dollars per month, and as the sugar com- 
mands in the San Francisco market eight and nine 
cents per pound (fourpence and fourpence-halfpenny), 
the profit on this article is very great. Tobacco, though 
it grows freely, is affected, apparently, by the nature of 
the soil, and its quality is not so good as to promise 
great or profitable results for its cultivation. 

The indigo plant, which is indigenous and exists as 
a troublesome and ineradicable weed over the islands, 
will probably prove of greater importance. Knowledge 
and capital are required for utilizing this valuable plant, 
and those are advantages which the coming years must 
bring with them. 

Cotton, the watchword of the day, is beginning to 
receive attention. The natives inhabiting the district 
of Kau, Hawaii, are planting cotton extensively on their 
mountain side, and it flourishes admirably. Some 
specimens which have been sent to England are 
pronounced equal in quality to ' Sea-island ' cotton. 

Silk is cultivated in small quantities. The moi^s 
papyrifera abounds in parts of the islands. From the na- 
tive grapes a fair wine is made. The proof of wine is in 
the drinking ; and none has yet reached this country. 



412 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Some beautiful woods adapted for cabinet-making 
grows in tbe forests. Specimens have been received of 
articles made of the Koa and Kou wood. It was hoped 
that these woods would form part of the products shown 
at the International Exhibition of 1862; and at the 
same time tliat there would be exhibited the magnetic 
sand, and the substance called jpidu : as it proved, unfor- 
tunately, no Hawaiian products were received in time 
for exhibition. 

I append here the Report made to the English Foreign 
Office by Mr. Consul-Greneral Synge, on the trade of 
Hawaii, and presented to Parliament in July 1865. 

The official returns of the Collector of Customs, giving the 
whole commercial statistics of this kingdom for the year 1864, 
and a comparative statement of trade in each year from 1846 
to 1864 inclusive, exhibit a very marked increase in the trade 
of these islands. The export of sugar, which was 3,005,603 lbs. 
in 1862, and 5,292,121 lbs. in 1863, rose to 10,414,441 lbs. 

in 1864. 

New plantations are being constantly started, and the export 
of sugar this year is expected to be far larger than the last, 
whilst the area of land still untouched by cultivation, but 
capable of profitably producing sugar, is supposed to be ten to 
twenty times the quantity non-yielding. 

In view of these statistics and my general knowledge of the 
country, I think it my duty to state my behef that the im- 
portance of the Sandwich Islands as a producing and trading 
country has been much underrated; and that, with a con- 
tinuance of the same good government and security which is 
now enjoyed, it will rapidly take rank as the West Indies of the 
North Pacific Ocean. 

By far the largest trade is now and has for some time been 
done with San Francisco, which is the nearest market for our 
productions, and also the most convenient port whence to 
obtain our manufactures, goods, provisions, &c. A competition 



MR. CONSUL SYNGE's REPORT. 413 

for a portion of this trade has, however, recently sprung up, viz., 
the British port of Victoria, Vancouver's Island. The imports 
thence, which, in 1862, were only 4,672 dollars 22 cents, 
rose in 1863 to 32,210 dollars 52 cents, and in 1864 to 54,153 
doUars 47 cents. The larger proportion of these values 
consisted of British products and manufactures. 

This trade, only recently commenced, must continue to 
increase very rapidly if Victoria preserve her free port system, 
as the high rates of duty on imports into San Francisco will 
teU very seriously against the latter port, especially when the 
market of Victoria grows larger. 

The system of bonding goods in San Francisco, although a 
palliative, I am given to understand by merchants here, does 
not at all offer the advantages to commerce which are presented 
by the total absence of duties at Victoria ; and I believe that 
it only requires time for the development of Victoria as a free 
depot for British manufactures to transfer a very large pro- 
portion of the trade of the Sandwich Islands now enjoyed by 
foreign countries, merchants, and vessels, to that British 
colony, and to British merchants and vessels. 

In view, therefore, of the probable very rapid increase and 
future value of the trade of this kingdom, I beg to call your 
Lordship's attention to the importance to British interests as 
well as to those of the Sandwich Islands, of preserving, if pos- 
sible, the port of Victoria, Vancouver's Island, a perfectly free 
one. 

# The people here being so much occupied with sugar, which 
has been proved to answer, have not paid much attention to 
cotton, the result of which, when planted on a large scale, is 
yet problematical; but recently the Peruvian cotton-plant has 
been foimd to tlirive and produce so well, that it is very 
likely some plantations on a respectable scale will shortly be 
attempted. 

A great assistance to British commerce with these islands 
would be a screw-steamer or steam clipper between this 
and Panama direct ; and I believe a very moderate subsidy 
for carrying the mails would induce merchants here to place 



414 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

one on this route. By connecting with the West India line for 
passengers, and with the Liverpool screw-steamers for cargo, 
a considerable traffic might be expected. 

When it is remembered that the commerce and the produc- 
tions of the volcanic island of Mauritius, in the same latitude 
south that these islands are north, are, at the present day, nearly 
thirty times greater than those of the Sandwich Islands, whilst 
the latter have several times greater area and available land, 
as well as greater diversity of cUmate and resources, it will 
readily be seen what an opening is presented for future com- 
merce, and how valuable this trade may become to Great 
Britain, especially if a British free port be preserved so near 
to us as Victoria, Vancouver's Island. 

On the whole, the future looks smiling as to the 
. commercial and, consequently, the fiscal, prosperity of 
the islands. Even the right whales appear to be re- 
turning to their old haunts, and though during the past 
autumn season the number of vessels engaged in fishing 
has beeD greatly reduced, the average of results is materi- 
ally higher. It is not desirable, however, that after a 
temporary suffering from the falling off of this trade, 
the energy which has been thrown into internal re- 
sources and industry should be checked, or again largely 
diverted to the more transient and often hurtful trade 
of the coasts and extremities of the country. The* 
national revenue has suffered, and it may be some years 
before internal production will replace the immediate 
income derived from customs, duties, &c. Having this 
state of things in view, the government have wisely 
determined to make large reductions in every branch of 
public expenditure capable of contraction: and while they 
are thus endeavouring to meet the times, the outer 
public, on its part, urges the necessity for economy. 
The avoidance of public debt is the more important in 



YALTJE OF MONET. 



415 



a country of high interest. The use of money com- 
mands from one per cent, per month to twenty per 
cent, per annum, and even higher rates of interest. The 
following table, showing the fluctuations of interest 
from 1846 to 1860, was prepared by the registrar of 
public deeds and conveyances : 

MmiMUM and Maximum Eates of Interest on Promissory Notes, 
secured by Bond and Mortgage, 



1846 
1847 
1848 
1849 
1850 
1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 
1855 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 



Minimum Rate Maximum Rate 

0.5 per cent, per month 1 per cent, per month 

1 









1-5 

2 

4-5 

5 

3 

2 

3 

5 

3 

4 

2 

2-5 

1 

1-25 






»> 



With regard to journalistic literature in the islands, 
the Polynesian' ceased to be a government institution, 
and m 1864 was allowed to expire. Its place has been 
taken by the 'Hawaiian Gazette,' as the semi-official 
organ of government. 'The Commercial Advertiser' 
continues to reflect in strong colours the views of the 
American missionary party, and constitutes itself ' His 
Majesty's opposition.' 'The Friend,' an interesting 
monthly periodical advocating missionary principles, hj^ 
entered on its twenty-third volume. The ' Hae Hawaii ' 
and another small paper in the native language circulate 



416 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

amongst the people; and a new journal of more ambitious 
pretensions and of more enlarged views has just been 
started, also in native, under the name of the Hoku o 
Ka Pakipika—' The Star of the Pacific' 

On a retrospect of the moral changes which have 
taken place in the Hawaiian people, we are struck with 
the extreme vigour with which, in the year 1820, the 
nation liberated itself from the thraldom of an ancient 
and universal idolatry. It was an act which stands 
alone upon the page of history. The whole transaction 
remains — 

' A truth so strange, 'twere bold to think it true, 
If not still bolder far to disbelieve.' 

The overthrow of idolatry shows that the Hawaiian 
race possesses not only great energy of character but 
some unusual idiosyncrasies, capable of being turned 
to bad or good account. There was a dumb and scep- 
tical reasoning going on in the popular mind about 
their pantheon, its worthlessness, its falsity. The system 
was withering in their estimation, and required but a 
spark to enkindle it with a destructive fire, in which it 
was consumed with the rapidity of a heap of crackling 
thorns and dry leaves. Then their hatred to it as a 
system broke out again, and the unutterable groanings 
which their spirits had been subject to under the 
oppression of priestcraft, and especially the tabu insti- 
tution, found a voice in action. With regard to idolatry 
itself, whatever may have been the best aspect of pagan- 
ism, seen in the halo of Grrecian art and intellectual 
cultivation, with uncivilized peoples it always takes the 
form of a cruel and bloodthirsty system. The King of 
Bahomy, who sacrifices two thousand victims at once as 
a holocaust to his deceased father ; the Tahitian king. 



TRANSITION OF CHARACTER, 417 

wlio was accustomed to tread on the warm bodies of slain 
men each time he landed on any of his islands; and 
the mis-shapen idol Pele of the Hawaiians, to which 
rites of blood were performed, are among the instances 
of this general tendency. In Hawaii it has been seen 
that the whole structure fell to pieces at the first 
glimmering approach, the faintest twilight rays of 
Christianity and mental enlightenment,— or rather, 
before the watching eye could detect in the sky any 
beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The trooping 
ghosts were ready to retire and crouch in their cono-enial 
darkness. * 

Ev de <pau koI oXtaaov, 

The change of character produced by the abolition of 
idolatry, and the reception of Christian truths imperfectly 
understood, and Christian practice imperfectly accepted 
as it was, was marked and wonderful From a fierce 
people dehghting in war, the Hawaiians became gentle 
and peaceable; their very countenance softened in 
expression, and hospitality and kind affections spran- 
up vigorously throughout the islands. It was not, how- 
ever, that the people became saints or sages. Their 
hearts were not the rasa tabula which the relio-ious 
theorist so earnestly desires. They were pages scribbled 
over with many evil and stubborn lines which had first 
to be erased. But still there is something very hopeful 
in that mixed character. The Hawaiians are not dull 
and torpid ; and they can love ;~that is something. 
•Let It be seen what will be the effect upon the nation 
at large as the services and teaching of the Church are 
generally extended among them ; services that have a 
warmth in them ; which give the worshippers a part to 
take ; that symbolize with decent forms and sympathetic 



E E 



418 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

attitudes the humiliation, the gratitude, the praise, 
the petition, as they come in their oft-repeated roimd. 
Let it be seen what the effect upon their minds will be 
when gathered within the walls of a temple solemn yet 
cheerful, cared for, but accessible to all at all times— a 
church in which art walks as the handmaid of religion, 
and never arrogates to herself the higher place. Let 
them mingle their voices with the diapasons of the 
organ ; let ''them hear the invitation of the bell as it 
chimes its gracious welcome. Let spire, and cross, and 
ornate doorway be there, and a meaning be set on each 
part, till the people come to love the gift which this 
country is prepared to make them, and say of their 
Church, ' This is none other than the house of God, and 
this is the gate of heaven I ' 



As the preceding account of the resources and trade 
of Hawaii was going to press, I received the commercial 
statistics for the year 1865, and they show a large ad- 
vance in production and general prosperity. The 
quantity of sugar exported had increased to 15,318,097 
lbs (6,838 tons), or nearly 50 per cent, more than the 
previous year. Coffee 263,705 lbs., or five times the 
PTowth of 1864. The total exports in 1865 were m 
value ^1,569,894, against ^1,113,329 in 1864, an excess 
of nearly 30 per cent. It is a significant fact in favour 
of the internal prosperity of the islands that the imports 
remained the same as the year before, and they now 
exceed the exports by less than two millions of dollars. 
The cultivation of cotton is quite recent in the islands, 
and is yet in its infancy. In 1864, about a ton weight 
of cotton, of fine quality, had been shipped; in 1865, 
11,750 lbs. were exported, or nearly four times the 



POSTSCRIPT. 419 

quantity. The Custom-house receipts for the last year 
were 1^192,566 ; showing an enlargement of upwards of 
thirty-three thousand dollars compared with the pre- 
ceding period. 

^ The value of real estate had shown a corresponding 
rise ; and in some districts the value of land had doubled 
itself in the twelve months. 

A line of Steamers has just been established between 
California and the Islands ; and the first vessel of the 
California Steam Navigation Company, the 'Ajax,' has 
arrived with a hearty welcome, at Honolulu. The 
Hawaiian Steam Company is taking measures to keep 
up a more rapid and constant inter-island communica- 
tion with their boats. 



E £ 2 



420 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

KALELEO-KA-LANI ; 'THE FLIGHT OF THE CHIEF.' 

4 

THE dynasty of Kamehamena seemed firmly es- 
tablished. The royal stirps had taken root, and 
was bearing noticeable fruit. Four kings of the name 
had occupied the time from 1782 to 1862, i.e. eighty 
years ; which in a country not famous for longevity was 
in itself a remarkable circumstance. And there was yet 
a grandson of the first Kamehameha, under thirty years 
of age, the elder brother of the King, on whom the 
government would devolve in failure of the direct heir, 
the youDg Prince of Hawaii. 

The feeling of the people towards the Prince Royal 
was already love and pride, rather than hope. They 
had him in possession, so that hope seemed to have no 
proper place in their hearts. For hope differs from love 
in this respect, that, even when perfect, hope does not 
cast out fear, and hath torment— sometimes unutterable ; 
and her heaven has always, somewhere, its threatening 

cloud. , . 

Nor was it alone to his people that the boy prince 
was an object of great interest. All foreigners in the 
islands or elsewhere who wished well to Hawaii, and were 
led from any circumstance to watch her efforts towards 
advancement, saw in the youthful successor of the 
fourth Kamehameha the laying of another stone on the 



THE PRINCE OF HAWAII. 421 

foundation, and a further gage of stability to the king- 
dom. Inherited rights are a chain which gains strength 
by every link added. The faults of a father are not 
generally visited, in this case, on the son, but are ' oft 
interred with his bones;' and subjects who perhaps 
writhed under the oppressive rule of the king whom 
death removed, discover that their wrath for the in- 
dividual does not extend to the race, and gladly accept 
the new ruler and that permanence to affairs which a 
quiet succession promises. It is affirmed that to pick 
up a pebble alters the centre of gravity of the solar 
system; and there were observers in Europe whose acute 
sight informed them that the peace of the world was in 
some measure affected by the life or death of a Poly- 
nesian chief. 

The Prince was a fine, vigorous child, and forward for 
his years in mental development. He was already ac- 
qmrmg a royal courtesy of demeanour. It was a custom 
m Honolulu, both in the palace and in private dwellings, 
to introduce refreshments when visitors called, even in 
the forenoon of the day. It was a custom which pre- 
vailed in our own court some centuries ago ; and those 
who are curious can read elaborate regulations about the 
cup and spice-plate in Grote and other antiquarians.' 
The grace of the young Prince as he proferred to his 
parents' guests, with his own hand, the fruit or the 
wi^ne, won the admiration of those who witnessed it. 
His were the ministrations of a Granymede. 

When rather past the age of four years, he is thus' 
described by one accustomed to see him. ' Lovely in 
appearance, with delicately-formed features, and bright 
intelligent, meditative eyes, he early developed those 
amiable qualities of mind which made him the idolized 
love of his parents. To them obedient, courteous to^ 



422 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

strangers, kind to inferiors, with an observant eye, a 
retentive memory and a genial disposition, his whole 
being seemed to diffuse a sunshine of inexpressible 
sweetness over the palace and over the land.' 

The education of this noble boy was not neglected, 
and capacities like his took away all difficulties from the 
task of instruction. From his mother he learned the 
great lesson of religion ; learned it from his best teacher; 
for to the infant the mother is the true priest and 
schoolmaster. One who met the royal party campaigning 
in the woods during a summer excursion, describes the 
effect produced on himself by coming unintentionally 
on the group of the Queen and her child very early in 
the morning, as beneath the trees he found the Prince 
with clasped hands kneeling at his mother's knees, 
putting up his artless prayer to ' his Father who is m 
heaven,' and whose unveiled face his own infant eyes 
were so soon to behold. 

The Prince's further education had been provided for 
in securing for his tutor one of the clergy then travelling 
with the first bishop towards Hawaii,— the present 
Archdeacon Mason. A more judicious choice could 
scarcely have been made, nor to the intended instructor 
a more congenial task given. Indeed, the approach of 
the English Mission was much connected with the future 
of the boy. This public admission into the Church by 
baptism was to have been the inauguration of the 
functions of the bishop and his clergy in the islands. 
The rite was to be administered by the hands of the. 
bishop ; the Queen of England had graciously under- 
taken to be his female sponsor, and had intrusted to her 
commissioner Mr. Follett Synge a rich gift to be pre- 
sented at the ceremony. The child's christenmg had 
been delayed much longer than would have usually been 



A HUERIED BAPTISM. 423 

desirable that this public act so gratifying to all who 
took part in it might be fulfilled. . 

Mr. Synge's arrival at Honolulu preceded by a short 
time that of the bishop. He arrived there about the 
28th of August, 1862 ; but on the 19th the royal child 
had been attacked by illness, inflammation of and 
pressure on the brain. All the medical skill of the 
islands, and that was not small, assisted by the care of 
the surgeon of H.M.S. ' Charybdis' would not avail to 
turn aside the descending blow. Early on the morning 
of the 23rd the symptoms were too unmistakeabie to 
allow them to delay any longer the Prince's baptism. 
All state preparations had then to be dispensed with ; 
a clergyman of the Episcopal Church was not at hand, 
and the initiatory sacrament was administered with 
extreme solemnity and according to the English 
liturgy, by the Eev. Mr. E. H. Clark, in presence of 
the King, the Queen, the members of the Eoyal Family, 
the Ministers of Grovernment, and most of' the High 
Chiefs. Mrs. Synge, the wife of the English com- 
missioner, had the honour of standing proxy for Her 
Britannic Majesty; the male sponsors being H.R.H. 
the Prince of Wales, and the Prince Kamehameha, the 
present King of Hawaii. The dying child received the 
names of Albert Edward Kaukeaouli a Kamehameha. 

Thus with haste was the heir of the throne gathered 
into the outer court of the Christian temple. Whatever 
cries and strong supplications were poured forth to 
heaven by the distracted parents were confined within 
the limits of four days. Two hours after sunrise on 
Wednesday the 27th of August the child quietly ex- 
pired ; and the minute guns from the palace boomed 
out the truth to the sorrowing people. The tolling of 
bells in Honolulu prolonged the nation's sigh ; and from 



424 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

the ships in the harbour and from those that were 
anchored beyond the coral reefs, flags, that fluttered and 
fainted half-rmast high, repeated the sad intelligence, 
and seemed to mom-n the death of the heir of the island 
kingdom. 

On the following morning, the Prince was laid in 
state in the great reception room of the palace. He 
wore in death a look of ineffable sweetness and calm 
repose. On small tables around the couch stood vases 
filled with fragrant and beautiful flowers; and at his 
head was placed a large silver vase of the finest work- 
manship — the christening gift of his august godmother. 
For three hours, unchecked, a continuous stream of 
people of every condition and class was allowed to pass 
through the room and round the catafalque on which 
the remains of the prince reposed, and take their last 
look of a face they loved as if their own offspring. 

The day following the funeral, at a Court held for the 
public reception of H.B.M.'s commissioner, Mr. Synge 
in addressing the King and assuring him of the con- 
tinued interest which the Queen and Grovernment of 
Great Britain took in the welfare and prosperity of the 
Hawaiian kingdom, spoke as follows: — *I was further 
commanded by Her Majesty to inform you. Sire, that 
it is with very sincere gratification that she accepted 
the office of godmother to His Koyal Highness the Crown 
Prince of Hawaii ; inasmuch as she was thereby enabled 
to evince to you the very cordial friendship which she 
entertains for your Majesty, for your gracious Consort, 
and for your royal house. . . . It was Her Majesty's 
earnest desire that the christening cup which she sent 
to the Prince, and which 1 had the honour to present 
in the Queen's name to your Majesty, should have been 
preserved by him as a testimonial and memento of his 



THE prince's funeral. 425 

royal godmother's friendship and regard. . . . Queen 
Victoria, who herself has drunk so deeply of the cup of 
sorrow, will heartily feel for your Majesty and for your 
Eoyal Consort in this the terrible bereavement which 
has befallen you, and will greatly deplore the untimely 
death of a prince in whose welfare she was so especially 
and so nearly interested.' 

The funeral of the young prince took place on the 
7th of September. From sunrise till nearly noon, 
service guns were fired at five-minute intervals; and 
when the last solemn rite commenced, the batteries on 
shore fired minute guns, which were responded to by the 
cannon of H.B.M.'s frigate ^Termagant.' The cere- 
monial was kept as private as it could consistently be 
made, and when the bereaved father and mother took 
their places at the head of the coffin, the deep and 
visible emotion of the assembly could not be suppressed. 
After the service, the coffin was suffered to remain open 
in the throne-room, that those who desired to make 
their last ^ Aloha' might take a parting look at the 
placid corpse. In the evening the coffin was deposited 
within a tomb temporarily built in the palace grounds 
in the shadow of a beautiful tamarind-tree. 

The Hawaiians had a custom, which also prevailed 
among the Hebrews, of occasionally bestowing on a 
person a new and significant name, in commemoration 
of some remarkable event in which he had been con- 
cerned. The King, on the death of their first-born and 
only child, bestowed on his Queen the name of Kaleleo- 
ka-lani — a name by which she is now generally known 
among her own people, and by which she frequently 
subscribes herself. To make the sentiment and appro- 
priateness of this new appellation understood, it is 
necessary to explain that nearly all the names of the 



426 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

superior chiefs terminate in the dissylable ' lani.' The 
word means both ' a chief and ' the heaven,' its radical 
notion being that of height or elevation. Kaleleo-ka- 
lani may consequently be rendered either the ' flight or 
evanishment of the chief or the ' removal or disappear- 
ance of the heaven:' and each version expressed in 
sympathetic and poetic language the loss sustained by 
the mother who received and the father who inscribed 
this epitaph of the heart. 

Ere the coffin-lid which was to hide his child was 
finally attached, the King tore from his breast the star 
of diamonds he wore, and laid it on the bosom of his 
son. It descended with the corpse into the tomb ; and 
those lustrous gems are as dark and rayless as the deep 
night which envelopes them. 

Johnson, in his censure of Milton's Lycidas, says, 
« Passion plucks no berries from the myrtle and ivy, nor 
calls upon Arethusa and Mincius. . . . Where 
there is leisure for fiction there is little grief.' But 
grief, like other great passions, is capricious, and cannot 
be confined to a uniform rule of conduct. The King 
was quite sincere in his sorrow, yet he sought out a 
name for his partner in affliction which prosaic persons 
may consider too fanciful. And he was equally sincere 
when in consecrating the richest jewel he possessed, he 
was committing in the eyes of utilitarians an extrava-- 
gance, because the act led to no useful end. But it is 
not the first time that the most precious possession has 
been sacrificed at the passionate impulse of a devoted 
heart; and 'this waste' been reproved by those who 
could not see the beauty of an uncalculating action. ^ 

As for the Queen's sorrow, it was deep instinctive 
anguish, alleviated by Christian faith. It is woman's 
power or privilege to suffer and yet survive: and 



RIZPAH. 427 

Kaleleo-ka-lani outlived this blow to endure yet deeper 
waves of sorrow. P'or four days and nights she never 
stirred from the little grave beneath the tamarind-tree. 
There, not farther intrusive into the sanctity of grief, 
we leave her for the present, fixed in her attitude of 
mourning, like ' Rizpah the daughter of Aiah ' watching 
beside her dead. There is something peaceful, at this 
distance of time, in the picture : the princely child 
sinking gently asleep ; the mother beneath the loving 
sky of heaven, beautiful by day and yet more beautiful 
by night, with fixed gaze, seeing the flickering shadows 
of the leaves cast in turn by sun and by moon on the 
little spot of earth, more dear to her than all the world, 
where her innocent child reposes motionless and still — 
* A lovely beauty in a summer grave.' 



428 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

BROKEN-HEAKTED. 

THE strong nature of the King had received by the 
death of his child a blow the momentum of which 
could not at first be estimated by others, or, probably, 
by himself. It had shaken his whole being ; but the 
insidious fractures did not show themselves till time had 
brought the disintegrating power of its heats and chills, 
and especially its stormy rains. For the present he 
returned into himself, and did not know that his wound 
was incurable. He resumed the work he had under- 
taken before the Prince's illness, and retiring with the 
Queen to a residence they possessed some twenty miles 
from Honolulu, he proceeded with the translation of the 
English Book of Common Prayer into his native tongue. 
So, in their several literary occupations, Cowper strove 
against his deathlike despondency. Burton against the 
melancholy he anatomized, and Cruden against his fits 
of intermittent madness. The King's translation of our 
book of offices is in every respect a very remarkable 
work. It is remarkable in its origin; that he should 
of his own mere notion have designed such a labour ; and 
without help and without fearfully weighing the diffi- 
culties of transfusing into his own language, deficient in 
words, and more deficient in abstract ideas, the moral 
and theological conceptions of the Church, should have 



THE TEANSLATION OF THE PEATER-BOOK. 429 

proceeded at once to his successful accomplishment of 
the task proposed to himself. It is remarkable for the 
original manner in which the King, exercising his own 
discretion, arranged the contents of the volume, placing 
the services in an order corresponding with what he 
conceived to be their importance and their frequency of 
use. The book commences with the sentences of 
morning prayer ; the beginning of the Exhortation being 
rendered ' Ena hoahanau aloha ! ' — the last word, one 
of great significance and frequency in the mouths of 
Hawaiians, conveying, as has been already mentioned, 
love, salutation and good wishes. It is their universal 
word at greeting and at parting. Like the jpoi which 
the Hawaiians of every class eat, they could not go on 
without the word ' aloha.'' It most fitly makes its ap- 
pearance there thus early, when the congregations are 
joined together to serve the Lord. Matins are followed 
by the order of evening prayer ; the Litany, — in 
which the names of Kamehameha and Queen Emma, 
take the place of those of our royal family ; — the oc- 
casional prayers and thanksgivings. These are imme- 
diately succeeded by the catechism and the baptismal 
services. Then come the collects and the epistles and 
gospels ; the administration of the holy communion ; 
the burial service ; matrimony ; the churching of 
women ; rules for finding the dominical and epact ; the 
calendar, and the table of Feasts, &c. 

The execution of the book is also remarkable. The 
King took extreme pains in the translation ; and 
persons well acquainted with the Hawaiian languao-e 
and competent to judge, inform us that the work has a 
right to be entitled a good translation, and that they 
are satisfied with the general truth and beauty of it. 
As an instance of the good taste with which Kamehameha 



430 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

proceeded, it may be mentioned that no foreign words 
are employed, except a few Latin titles to psalms. Not 
the least curious parts of the work are the calendars, 
tables for finding Easter, &c., presented in Polynesian 

garb. 

The book is remarkable also for what it omits. The 
name of ' Halelu Davida' appears on its title-page, 
but the King's hand was cold in death before this part 
of his task was completed. The other omission to 
notice is that of the Athanasian Creed. Its absence is 
to be accounted for, in the first place, from the in- 
superable difficulties which would have encountered the 
King in trying to give expression and meaning to its 
language. The King knew his people well, and what 
the native mind was capable of apprehending. He was 
himself well acquainted with the history of the Church 
and the heresies which successively assailed it in its 
early course. He had even, it is said, described the 
progress of the Church in a series of letters in a 
native paper: but in preparing a book of offices for all 
classes of his subjects, young and old, inveterately ig- 
norant or partially instructed, he (we think wisely) left 
unsaid what he knew would be uncomprehended, and 
might be perverted. The Hawaiians, so lately heathens, 
had never conceived the erroneous ideas combated in 
the ancient Athanasian symbol, against which false 
views it was to be a doctrinal bulwark. They had not 
even words in which to clothe those ideas. From the 
very form of this creed, to have taught his subjects by 
its means speculative truths would have been to make 
them scholars in speculative errors, and to have presented 
to minds requiring to be fed upon milk, doubts and 
questionings which they could not have digested. In- 
deed, the very application of the remedy would have 



THE king's preface. 431 

been to have propagated the virus of the disease which 
was. apprehended. So the King, with thoughtful regard 
to the present condition of those who were to use the 
prayer-book, left the Athanasian Creed untouched.* 

That part of the work, however, which in this country- 
excites most surprise is the explanation, or preface as 
it would properly be called had it not been placed at 
the end of the book. It is a description or explanation 
of the prayer-book, and an argument for the use of 
stated prayers in congregational service. We have the 
distinct assurance that this admirable composition is 
the unaided work of the King. Without such assu- 
rance, one would scarcely believe from its form, its 
argument and its language, that its author's mind had 
not received an European training. It is connected, 
simple in style, earnest in spirit, and of such a length 
as to command attention without fatiguing it. The 
King had been long accustomed to hear the so-called 
extempore prayers of the American missionaries; he 
had marked the fallacy of the system, and had seen how 
soon the round of variety in praying was completed, 
leading to the inevitable result either of a return to 
previous phrases and petitions, or to the omission, for 
the sake of varying the prayer, of supplications for the 
supply of man's always -recurring and never-ceasing 
necessities.t 

It is a matter of some wonder how the King found 
time to execute his task, for he had the cares of a king- 
dom upon him. The supreme government of a country, 

* ' The Athanasian Creed, indeed, was received tacitly, not formally, 
by the Church, embodying as it does, the faith authoritatively set forth in 
the four first General Councils.' — Pusey, ' Eirenicon.' 

t The Preface to the King's Prayer-book has been reprinted by the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Tract No. 1,357, and has 
gone into extensive circulation in England. 



432 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

however small, is not to be carried on, especially by one 
who rules as well as reigns, without labour and cost of 
time ; and Kamehameha IV. made it his duty to know 
and be master of all things which concerned his king- 
dom, and to read every despatch received in each de- 
partment, even those which were only semi-official. 
But he was a very early riser, the great secret of having 
time for work. One of the clergy of the English mission 
mentions that before six one morning, and ere he was 
up, the King and Queen came to him requesting him 
to see a poor dying native whom they had themselves 
visited that day already. Most other nations rise 
earlier than the English, or, what is more true, the 
English do not rise so early as other nations ; and at 
5.30 A.M. the generality of Englishmen are, and without 

reproach, still asleep. 

The engrossing nature of the work was of great value 
to the King after the death of his son. It was necessary 
that occupation should prevent the little face, which 
filled his thoughts so much by day and formed his dreams 
so frequently at night, becoming too fixed an idea. 
He seems to have felt the danger, and to have tried, in 
appearance at least, to pursue and find pleasure in his 
former routine of life, and frankly mingle with those 
of his subjects who were worthy of his regard. He was 
at this time twenty-nine years of age ; a man of six feet 
in height, elegant in figure and movement; his skin, 
the full copper-colour, and his features exhibiting the 
oceanic Malay-type of the Polynesian race. The ex- 
pression of his face was sweet and animated. His 
bearing graceful and courteous in the highest degree. 
He was an admirable rider, a good whip, shot well, and, 
at proper times, thoroughly enjoyed a game of cricket or 
of billiards. He was an English gentleman cut in 



THE KINGS TASTES AND MOEAL CHARACTER. 433 

olive. He had read English literature and European 
history. We speak in part from our own personal 
recollection, and will add from personal knowledge, that 
the private letters of Kamehameha to his friends had all 
the freedom, not only of handwriting, but of expression 
and flow, which is characteristic of the writing of our 
educated countrymen ; whilst they sparkled with more 
humorous turns and strokes of playful raillery than the 
generality of English correspondence. 

He possessed taste in the constructive arts, and was 
fond of designing furniture. The native woods, thouo-h 
not adapted to building purposes, are excellent for 
cabinet-making. The last effort of the King of this 
kind was to design a work-table for Queen Victoria, 
which was executed in koa and kou woods, and is now 
in the palace of Windsor. 

It was remarkable that up to the time of the arrival 
of the Enghsh. Episcopal Mission in October 1862, the 
King had made no outward demonstration of religious 
life. It is not pretended that his youth had been free 
from faults and careless living; but he was at the 
period named very happily married, and, without any 
assumption of piety, was living quietly, and attending 
strictly to the duties of his position. How wicked is the 
mahce of some persons who now, when the subject of 
their anger is silent in the grave, overlooking all his later 
life of usefulness and religious devotion, find pleasure 
in recounting the foibles or the recklessness of a mere 
boy, and strive, as it were, to make the penitent dead 
' possess the sins of his youth.' The secret of the King's 
reticence in religion, and his abstention from external 
profession, was the want of sympathy he felt for the 
rehgious teachers about him. He expressed this fact 
himself; and it is with no view of provoking angry 

F F 



434 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

feeling that it is now repeated, but because it is the 
true reason of a circumstance that was observed, and 
which required explanation. The greatest reserve that 
is possible is maintained throughout this history in speak- 
ing of religion, or rather of religionists, in connection 
with Hawaii; but when the cause of truth demands a 
candid statement, it must be given in all simplicity. 
Some volumes and pamphlets which have appeared 
during the last eighteen months, opposed to the estab- 
lishment of the English Church in the islands, have 
used this candour, and sometiines have dispensed with 

that reserve. 

As to the King, it is certain that the faults of the 
past weighed heavily on his mind during the last year 
of his life. Before he was five-and-twenty, in a moment 
of excited passion, he was led to the commission of 
an act which had a sad termination. If the most 
heartfelt sorrow, if the tenderest care, and the amplest 
reparation possible could have availed to avert the 
threatened catastrophe, a life would have been saved. 
In his self-reproaches he went so far as to offer to lay 
aside the prerogative of the crown, and make himself 
amenable to justice, should he on trial before a criminal 
tribimal be adjudged guilty. If he resembled David in 
the greatness of occasional transgressions, he resembled 
David in the deepness and sincerity of his contrition. 

And we may now turn from the dark shadows of the 
picture to its brilliant lights. The eclipse lasts an hour, 
but the sun shineth for ever. The King had looked 
forward to the arrival of the English bishop and clergy 
for that religious help and sympathy he needed. Ere 
they came he made such fitting preparations for their 
estabUshment and comfort as his own private means 
would allow, added to the assistance which some of the 



HIS WARM WELCOME TO THE ENGLISH MISSION. 435 

chiefs and foreign residents gladly gave : and when they 
arrived at last, and he came out of his mournful re- 
tirement to greet them, his noble and generous nature 
did not allow him to offer a half-hearted welcome. In 
the tender communion of Bishop Staley, so soon to be 
smitten himself with the same blow which had desolated 
the royal pair, he found abiding comfort. No false 
pride prevented him now making open profession of his 
faith, and he and his Queen were confirmed in public, 
and he thenceforward became a constant communicant 
at the Lord's Table. From the very interesting letters 
and journals of Archdeacon and Mrs. Mason which 
have been received in England during the last two 
years, many pleasing traits and notices of the late 
King are to be gathered. Their intercourse with him 
and the Queen was very frequent and always happy. 
' The King shows in his conversation and in the things 
he writes an extraordinary amount of reading.' * * * * 
' His great personal attractions are his remarkably easy 
and gentlemanlike address, and his soft pensive eyes. His 
manner with ladies is particularly refined.' * * * « Xhe 
King joined in a game of cricket, and again showed how 
well he can unbend with his people, without appearing 
to condescend, and yet without losing his dignity.' * * * 
' The King was present at a meeting at the Court House 
respecting the mission. It is so very delightful to see 
a King acting as really the father of his people ; caring 
for their spiritual as well as their temporal interests.' 
He strove, at least he showed himself willing, to enter 
into the little enjoyments of his new guests; joined in 
some excursions with them, rejoicing at their admiration 
of the natural beauties of Hawaii, and insistino- on 
giving up the arrangements which had been prepared 
for his own comfort, that the new comers might not be 



F F 2 



436 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

iTicommoded by mosquitoes, &c., in their al fresco 

campaign. 

But under the external show of cheerfulness, and 
under the round of daily duties and constant acts of 
kindness, there throbbed a breaking heart ; and all that 
the world saw were the expiring manifestations of a life 
that was sapped and would shortly disappear. Words- 
worth describes a man whom he had known, and whose 
reason gave way in aberration, under the smart of 
wounded affections, as 

' — one of giant stature, who could dance 
Equipp'd from head to foot in iron mail.'* 

Such a description would not have overstated the 
physical powers of Kamehameha ; and yet he was 
fading away beneath the canker of a bosom grief: ' If 
ever' — writes one who was accustomed to be daily in 
his society, — ' If ever I saw a broken-hearted man, it 
s the King.' His sun was to go down at noon, yet not 
without one hour of twilight. The last year was truly 
a crepuscule of glowing, tender light, the unexpected 
but fit prelude to the setting of that bright informing 

spirit in death. 

On the 27 th of September, being the anniversary of the 
Prince of Hawaii's decease, the King and Queen called 
on Archdeacon and Mrs. Mason in the evening, bringing 
with them six little native children, whom they desired 
should be educated at the expense of the royal pair, in 
commemoration of the death of their son ; one of them 
being the foster-brother of the lost prince. Thus the 
great grief of their life was already sanctifying itself, by 
claiming to be united to acts of beneficence to man and 
of piety towards G-od. 

* "Tis said that some have died for love .'—Wordsworth's Works. 



FORE-SHADOWINGS. 437 

It is under the tender hues of declining life that we 
are called upon to exhibit the strong nature of the King. 
All must have noticed at some time the magic of the 
evening hour, to which we have compared the last year 
of this great chief. Under its influence we have seen 
the stagnant pool, with its unlovely foreground and 
accessories, light up into beauty — the slant sunbeams 
dappling it with lights and deep mysterious shadows, 
so that the artist would gladly have transfixed the scene 
upon his canvas; whilst nobler things, the ivy-clad 
rock and columned portico, gathered greatness to their 
greatness, and stamped themselves upon memory, to be 
retained whilst memory has any power to hold her 
treasures. In the autumn of 1863 the King and Queen 
met with a carriage accident, which placed their lives 
in great peril. Whilst driving, their horses ran away, 
and were approaching a precipice, when the carriage was 
upset and its occupants were thrown out, and though 
saved from their impending fate, were much bruised and 
shaken. Their first impulse was to send to the clergy- 
man and request that their thanksgiving might be 
offered during the evening service ; a eucharist which 
was repeated the next morning, by receiving the holy 
communion at the bishop's hands. This circumstance 
is mentioned as showing how immediate to the King's 
thoughts was religion, and how softened his character 
was under its influences. 

Whether this accident had any ulterior effect on the 
King's health is uncertain ; but an incident will now 
be mentioned which had occurred sonie months previ- 
ously, an incident very affecting in its circumstances, 
and which exercised a permanent influence on the 
whole man. 

In the month of February, 1863, the King left Hono- 



438 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

lulu accompanied by Bishop Staley, and his aide-de- 
camp Colonel Kalakawa, on a visit to the island of 
Hawaii. On Saturday the 28th they arrived at the 
village of Kailua, where the King had a summer resi- 
dence, and where he intended to remain a few days. 
Major Hoapili, who had already taken the resolution to 
resign his secular appointments, both in the army and as 
a district judge, and was preparing himself under the 
bishop's superintendence for holy orders, was also of 
the party. As the bishop was leaving in the afternoon 
to hold services at Kona, a village fifteen miles distant, 
he left in the hands of the royal party a prayer book, 
bracketed in pencil, so that, in the absence of a clergy- 
man, public prayers might be offered by one of the 

suite. 

In this country residence, beside the ever-murmuring 
ripple of the blue Pacific, the King had had his last 
intercourse with his darling child whilst in perfect 
health. As he wandered through the house, the memo- 
ries of that happier time thronged upon him and greatly 
affected him. At last, he chanced upon a box con- 
taining playthings which the little prince had used ; 
and never before did toys present such sad and solemn 
associations. At seeing them the bereaved father could 
not restrain his grief; and in such a tender and melan- 
choly mood the morning of Sunday opened upon him. 
Near the King's retreat there was a meeting-house of 
the Congregationalists ; and though no resident minister 
was stationed at Kailua, a service was held that day in 
the chapel by a, native preacher. The King and his 
suite attended the service, which mainly consisted of a 
high Calvinistic sermon, in which a terrifying picture 
was drawn of the (xod of the Christians, and the preacher 
descanted with zealous unction on judgment and the 



A ROYAL SERMON. 43» 

second death, intermixing it with sweet contemplations 
on the eternal punishment of the damned. Lacerated 
in his own feelings, and grieving for those of his poor 
subjects who found no more spiritual food presented to 
them than these alarming representations, the King 
determined to hold a second service in the afternoon. 
When this intention was known, the building was 
crowded with natives, and Major Hoapili putting on a 
white surplice, read prayers in the manner indicated 
by the bishop. Then the King, also wearing a linen 
surplice, and thus marking to the native mind the 
different office he assumed, addressed to the attentive 
auditory an extempore sermon. To say that the text 
he selected was the pearl-like sentence in St, John's 
Grospel, ' Jesus wept,' speaks volumes in itself. The 
preacher's own bleeding heart was clinging to all the 
tenderness and sympathy of a Saviour's love, and he 
recommended that abounding love and beneficence and 
long-suffering as the motive for holiness and for hope to 
his hearers. Deep was the silence and the attention of 
that auditory. It was their king who spoke — the old 
feudal spirit would alone have made them earnest to 
catch every word and observe every gesture. It was 
their Christian King, the mourner for whose loss, on his 
approach the previous day, the women had raised the 
wail of grief — who was uttering golden words of conso- 
lation, and they were riveted by his voice. It was a 
scene to be lastingly remembered. It has been truly 
said of it that we must trace back the stream of history 
even to Charlemagne if we would meet with its parallel, 
and see a king of men in humble love setting forth to 
his subjects the love of the King of kings. 

But the excitement of his agitated feelings was too 
great for the King. When the sermon was over a 



440 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

numbness seized one of his hands and presented symp- 
toms of incipient paralysis. A messenger was sent 
to the bishop at Kona, who despatched one of his 
clergy travelling with him, Mr. Ibbotson, and the 
resident doctor, and they reached Kailua at midnight. 
The attack appeared to pass away; but it seemed to 
the King himself sufficiently serious to lead him to send 
to his devoted Queen and beg her to come to him from 
Honolulu.* 

* I may be transgressing the part of a historian in reproducing in a 
foot-note some verses which the incident narrated above called forth, 
and which appeared in a London periodical. The circumstances were 
sufficiently varied at the time to prevent their application being too 
personal : — 

BROKEN TOYS. 

I have bow'd beneath the stroke, and the storm is passing o'er : 

I will walk, and will not murmur, though my lips may smile no more. 

The world is quite forsaken — 

My beautiful is taken 

To the dim eternal shore. 
I have learn'd to wateh the little spot of earth that is my boy's, — 
But scarcely yet I dare to touch his broken toys. 

'Mid the shadows of the evening, in the blackness of the night, 
That struggle and that piteous look come back upon my sight; 

Until I cry, ' Thank Heaven, 

Short was thy fearful levin, — 

Not longer was the fight.' 
And I recall the resting limbs, the peaceful, smiling face, 
Sunlit, as if of pain it ne'er had known a trace. 

I have gathered up his few small books,— they stand beside my bed ; 
I have folded up for treasures the clothes from which he fled: 

The cambric shirt, with stain 

Of blood from the blue vein 

Of his arm when he was bled. 
I can bear these suffering tokens,— but not those of his Joys ;— 
A mother's heart is broken by these broken toys. 



THE EECEPTION AND THE VACANT PLACE. 441 

In the course of the autumn circumstances, both 
political and in connection with the royal family, 
occasioned the King disquietude : and those about him 
felt uneasy on the subject of his health, though no 
definite indications of its failure yet appeared. The 
sun had even then left the zenith. 

He retreated from state ceremonials as much as 
possible, and preferred the private life ; yet on necessary 
occasions — the presentation of a new diplomatic agent 
or the commander and officers of a freshly-arrived 
national ship — he showed at the palace his usual simple 
but dignified com-tesy to the new comers. Late in the 
year it was thought desirable to hold a public reception, 
and with no small effort and self-denial the King and 
Queen consented to bear about the mockery of what- 
ever gaiety and pleasure is supposed to be connected 
with such gatherings. The evening of the 28th of 
November, 1863, was the appointed time. The King's 
health was known to be infirm, but none seemed to have 
been aware that the flame of life was burning low, and 
was even then flickering in the socket. 

The 28th of November is a white day in the Hawaiian 
calendar ; and the twentieth anniversary of the recog- 
nition of the independence of the country by England 
and France was fit in the people's estimation to be 
joyfully celebrated throughout Hawaii Nei'. Therefore 
the small but pretty lolani palace was bright with lights 
at 8 o'clock that evening. Military music gave anima- 

How weak I am ! how changeful, how desolate, how lone ! 

Bear with my faithless grief, Thou, to whom all grief is known ! 

I wiU think upon Thy story; 

I will think upon his glory 

Who from my arms is flown ; 

And try to figure to myself the bliss that is my boy's : 

But my heart is well-nigh broken by these broken toys ! 



442 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

tion to the sight, and the scent of flowering plants in 
the palace enclosure, and the paler hues of the blossoms 
in the flood of silver moonlight, reminded European and 
other guests that they were in a climate where winter 
is not a stepmother to nature ; but where the maidens 
can wreathe their heads with flowers, and youths fill ti 
leaves with ripe strawberries through all the months. 
Among those who thronged to the reception were the 
Bishop of Honolulu, the English Commissioner Mr. 
Synge, the American Minister, all the political and 
judicial functionaries, and many foreign and native resi- 
dents. Uniforms of aides-de-camp, robes of clergy, and 
the full dresses of ladies, made an ensemble which 
differed from that of European courts in magnitude 
only, not in brilliancy or elegance. 

It was at once perceived by the assemblage that no 
member of the royal family was present ; and when the 
Queen entered the reception chamber she was alone. 
She remained there an hour, and received the presenta- 
tion of several ofiicial and many private persons, spoke 
some kind words to those who approached her, and re- 
tired from that bright scene to watch by the bed-side 
of her husband. 

On the 30th, at nine o'clock in the forenoon, there 
being no apparent cause for alarm or symptoms of 
approaching dissolution, the Queen was eatirely alone, 
but still watching the countenance of the King, who 
spoke to her in a low voice. He ceased suddenly and 
drew a long breath, when the poor wife (no queen at 
that minute, only a loving anxious woman) supposing 
that a spasm had caused her husband to lose his breath, 
or that he had fainted, bent her lips to his, and tried 
with her breath to restore the action of his lungs. She 
might as well have tried to bestow life on a marble 



THE SUDDEN END OF ALL. 443 

statue. A slight muscular motion remained in the 
heart, and added to her incredulity that she was face to 
face with death. The bishop and the ministers were 
hastily summoned, and the first comers reached the 
chamber too late to see their sovereign still alive. 

It was some time before the Queen could dispel the 
dull disbelief that the man to whom she was passionately , 
attached was taken from her. This scepticism of sur- j 
vivors at the first moments of their bereavement is an I 
opiate mercifully afforded in many cases, and dulls the I 
agony which might destroy them by its blow, and lay I 
them on the same bed of death. But like other / 
anodynes, the veil is sooner or later rent asunder, and/ 
then the pangs of pain or grief resume their full reign. 
With the Queen, disbelief had to give way to the certain 
knowledge that she was a widow, and that the corpse of 
Kamehameha was already growing cold. But with a 
constancy, which has been seen at the death of her 
child, and was now still farther exemplified, she could 
not be removed from the side of the corpse. Bowed 
down, silent and fasting — for in eight days nothing but 
a few grapes and a little water passed her lips — she 
remained unconscious to the whole outer world ; whilst, 
as in the case of Job, in the first onslaught of his suffer- 
ings, her friends and attendants could only watch round 
her in silence and tears. The only sound which reached 
her, and which soon by its continuance became unob- 
served, was the wail of men and women, which during 
two months went up incessantly by night and day round 
the walls of the palace. Yes, there was one influence 
which made itself a way to the Queen in the very flood 
of her distress, — it was her religious faith. One soft 
footstep was heard by an ear inattentive to louder 
sounds, — it was that of the bishop, as he came at the 



444 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Queen's desire to administer to her at 7 o'clock, the 
morning after her bereavement, the sacramental bread and 
wine, the instrument to which she looked for consolation 
if not for comfort. Among those of her own sex who 
watched by the Queen, were Mrs. Staley the bishop's 
wife; Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Synge, respectively the 
wives of the now Archdeacon of Maui and of the English 
commissioner. These ladies scarcely ever left her. 

In this age of veneer, when the solid mahogany of 
thought and principle has been so generally discarded, 
and we economize by overlaying ourselves with a thin 
external coat of political or moral ethics, electrotype our 
feelings, and sickly o'er our learning with a ver}^ pale 
cast of thought, the concentration and devotion of the 
royal widow and her sympathizing attendants, and the 
genuine and sustained sorrow of the King's humbler 
subjects, bring to the mind a sensation almost of 
refreshment, and a renewed belief 

' that in our embers 
Is something that doth live:' 

and prove that in an age marked, as a French writer has 
observed, by a general absence of conviction, there yet 
linger hearts in which love and grief and zeal and piety 
are realities; powerful motives influencing the whole 
being they possess, and having in themselves the power 
to kill or to keep alive. 

Thus ended, at the early term of thirty years, the 
earthly career of Alexander Liholiho, surnamed Kame- 
hameha IV. If the absence of public achievements, 
and the want of ambition, which requires to be made of 
sterner stuff than was the King's delicate nature, do 
not entitle him to be called great, there were materials 
in his character which would have adorned the reign of 
any sovereign ; and possibly were sufficient to have 
made him a greater King had he been placed on a larger 



SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS. 445 

stage. Eeviewing the occurrences of his later years, he 
must be named a man of sorrows, but it may be truly 
added of him, that it was good that he had been afflicted ; 
the chastisement that was upon him discovered the 
beauties of his disposition. Alas I why are the sono- of 
the swan and the iris hues of the dolphin only the 
certain premonitions and preludes of death ? 

The King had possessed in an eminent degree that 
power, generally exercised imconsciously by the subject, 
of attaching to himself those who came in contact with 
him. So we observe golden opinions expressed of him 
in the written and verbal communications of those who 
had known him personally. It is not to be inferred from 
what has been said of the King's want of ambition, that 
lie was deficient in firmness: his dismissal of the legis- 
lature in 1856, and some other passages of his life,' 
prove the contrary ; but the character of his mind was 
thoughtfulness, kindness, and love, the desire for infor- 
mation, and for the safety and progress of his people. 
He had attracted the affection of those who knew him 
in his boyhood and adolescence ; and in after years he 
did not lose their kind regard. As to his qualifications 
for his high office, one who had been long intimate with 
the King writes thus: ^Not unconscious of his own 
powers, he wanted to employ them in the service of the 
state, and he always felt that, as a constitutional 
monarch, he was rather the arbitrator between opposing 
views than the supporter of any line of policy which 
recommended itself to his own judgment, and which, 
off the throne, he could have better vindicated with his 
own logic. As G-eneral Commanding in Chief, to give 
an instance, he showed an appreciation of system and a 
knowledge of detail which proved, beyond controversy, 
his executive talent.' Again, the same writer says, 
' that the King's talents were brilliant, his feelings keen 



446 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

his appearance elegant, his conversation sparkling and 
bright, and his sorrows unfathomable, we all know. He 
was a prince to be proud of; and his nation mourned 
him more for the promise that was in him than for his 
position by birth.' Then alluding to the great grief of 
his life, the same writer adds : ' We have all read in 
history of an English King, who after his son's death 
was never seen to smile again; and those who were 
most about our late King assert that after his son's 
death, he thought of him every hour of every day, and 
dreamed of him by night. Now that they have met 
again, it cannot be wrong to say, that the death of the 
son hastened the death of the father. Grod grant that 
we may never again see so heart-broken a man.' 

The Bishop of Honolulu, who only became personally 
acquainted with the late King during the last thirteen 
months of his life, but through that time was in constant, 
almost daily intercourse with him, thus describes him, 
particularly in reference to his religious character, 
knowledge, and views : ' A man of rare physical powers, 
of elegant tastes, keen perceptions, who could enjoy 
Kingsley, Thackeray, Tennyson, and was ever quoting 
Shakespeare, the bent of his mind was still theological. 
He had the strong religious instincts peculiar to his 
race. Those he felt could never be satisfied by truths 
which addressed themselves only to the logical faculty. 
The Catholic faith, as taught in the Church of England, 
' in its integrity, seemed to meet fully the cravings of his 
soul. He loved to dwell on the regularity of the 
English orders, and few laymen could vindicate with 
the same ability every link in the chain of their trans- 
mission. He was familiar with the works of Whcatley, 
Palmer, Courayer, Perceval. A true churchman on 
conviction, he was no less opposed to Koman error than 



RELIGIOUS CONYICTIONS. 447 

to Congregationalism; but no one ever heard from his 
lips an uncharitable word with regard to other religious 
systems. He used to remark the soundness of our 
position as a Church — that of Scripture interpreted by 
** the old fathers " — and he would say " the waters be- 
come purer as you approach the fountain." In the last 
conversation I had with him, he remarked, with re- 
ference to a service that had been held for the American 
residents, " I highly approve your attempts to soften 
down national feelings of irritation. The Church is 
Catholic, and knows no nationalities." Talking over his 
plan of visiting England next year with the Queen, he 
said, " I want to go as a member of the Anglican Church 
myself, and ask my fellow-churchmen to aid me in 
saving my poor people." ' 

On the morning after his death the body of the King 
was removed into the throne-room of the palace. How 
changed was that apartment in the three days since the 
reception. The hall that had been so brilliant with 
artificial light, now dimmed by the partial exclusion of the 
natural day. The then subdued sound of many voices, 
of salutations, not unmixed with anxiety, the whisper of 
rustling silk, the clink of peaceful swords on the floor, 
and the faint pauses of music from without, now hushed 
into such silence, that a breath was heard, and a sigh 
startled the ear like a cry of pain. Only from the circle 
of mourners who surrounded the palace there reached 
that apartment the pathetic monotonous chant of wailing, 
now low, now rising higher, as if by new accessions of 
grief; just as from the encircling reefs the island hears 
the murmur of the surf varying in force with the vary- 
ing winds. The throne with its crimson hangings was 
no longer the point to which all eyes turned ; but a 
bier in the centre of the room, draped with black cloth. 



448 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

on wliicli lay extended the stalwart form of the late King 
arrayed in his Field-marshal's uniform, and elongated 
by death into a giant's length. At his head was a small 
table or altar, on which stood the emblem of his faith. 
The officers of state formed a silent group beyond the 
catafalque, and at each extremity were native chiefs, 
bearing in their hands the tall kahilis or feathered 
wands of office, with that patient immobility attained 
only by the unsophisticated races of men. And, lastly, 
at the front corner of that couch of death was bowed a 
figure hidden by a black veil, chief mourner of all those 
who sincerely mourned their sovereign, and whose 
statue-like attitude struck every heart with awe and 

pity. 

And such remained the scene when the subjects of 
Kamehameha, high and low, were allowed to pass 
through the room and bid their chief a silent last 
aloha. The lying in state was protracted, owing to 
the preparation of the funeral obsequies, which were on 
a scale unprecedented in that country. All honours 
which the love and reverence of a people could suggest 
were paid at the funeral ; and the erection of a new 
mausoleum was commenced, on rising ground lookicg 
down on the city of Honolulu, the distant Waianae 
mountains, and the ocean. ' The situation was well 
chosen ; and while the fan-like landscape spreads out 
its unspeakable softness and beauty to the west, and 
the setting sun seems to linger over the ocean's rim, as 
if loth to part from a scene so lovely, sunrise and 
resurrection stand close behind the mountain curtain 
which fringes the valley on the east, and which pro- 
longs the freshness and sweetness of the morning 
jiours.' * 

* Polynesian. December 12, 1863. 



THE NEW NAME. 449 

The circumstances of the new name which Queen 
Emma received from her husband on the death of their 
only child, the Prince of Hawaii, and the import of it, 
have been mentioned in the previous chapter ; and now 
in her early widowhood— for the Queen was not seven- 
and-twenty at the time of the King's death— the people, 
in their affectionate sympathy, changed her name once 
more. The adjective particle na, meaning *^all,' or 
' the entire,' was substituted for that of ka, which is 
genitive singular. So instead of the name ' Kaleleo-ka- 
lani; ' the flight of the chief, or heaven,' the desolation of 
the wife as well as the mother was thenceforward ex- 
pressed by 'Kaleleo-na-lani;~' the flight of all the 
chiefs, or the entire heaven:' for it seemed to the 
people that to their Queen, now, all joy was darkened, 
and that her earth was utterly empty and void. 



G G 



450 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



I 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE WILD OLIVE TREE. 

T was on the llthof October, 1862, that Dr. Staley, 
_ consecrated to the see of Honolulu, accompanied by 
Mr. Mason, now Archdeacon of Maui, and by Mr. Ibbot- 
son, also in priest's orders, landed in his diocese ; where 
he was followed soon after by Mr. Scott, also a priest, who 
had gone by ship from England to San Francisco. It 
can never be forgotten by those most interested in this 
movement that the mission to the Sandwich Islands was 
one sown in tears. The much lamented Prince Consort 
of England died the day before Dr. Staley's consecra- 
tion, and when the mission touched land they heard of 
the death of the young Prince of Hawaii. A strange 
and unaccountable gloom had fallen on the spirits of 
one of the clergy who journeyed with the bishop, the 
one probably fullest of hope and buoyancy, as they 
neared the port of Honolulu, the goal of their long 
travel ; and the sad news of the blighted hope of a 
nation was received by him without surprise, and 
almost as if he had been prepared for the intelligence. 
Within a year, the venerable prelate who had laid his 
hands on Dr. Staley's head was reposing in the tomb, 
and a child of the Bishop of Honolulu, and one^ of 
Mr. Scott, were added to the number of the dead. The 
death of the good Kamehameha IV. makes up the 
melancholy catalogue. 



THE ENGRAFTING OF THE CHURCH. 451 

The mission, bringing with them a branch of the 
universal Church of Christ, was received in the kindest 
manner. Let it be said to the honour of all those who 
under different denominations serve Grod, whether 
Komanist or Dissenter, that a welcome came from all, 
and a kind hand was held out on their arrival. If 
differences of opinion soon showed themselves, if weekly 
papers sought to widen divergencies and to sow feuds 
of jealousy. 

For whispering tongues can poison trutli, 

there was at least a smile of kindness when the little 
band of Englishmen first trod the shore of Oahu. 

The bishop and his clergy had made the most of the 
opportunities for study which a voyage afforded, and 
had so advanced in a knowledge of the Hawaiian tongue 
that they were able immediately on their arrival to 
hold a service in native. 

A great deal of displeasure has been expressed in 
Hawaii, in America, and some even here, at the plant- 
ing of the church as it exists in England in the North 
Pacific. It is not the duty of a historian to be a con- 
troversialist ; far less should it be his pleasure to reply 
to attacks, partly personal to himself, or to add acri- 
mony to acrimony. It will be sufficient to say that 
Dr. Eufus Anderson has written a book lately on the 
Hawaiian Islands, in which a chapter is devoted not to 
the praise of ' the Eeformed Catholic Mission.' Each 
writer has perfect liberty to give the view of a subject 
he believes to be correct; but he cannot secure the 
power of drawing on a discussion, during the progress of 
which charity may be lost and the reading public find 
themselves weary. A very few independent remarks 
will be all that are necessary. 

G G 2 



452 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

As, however, the name of a distinguished English 
prelate is often mentioned, it will be right to agree at 
once that Samnel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, the 
worthy son of a man whose name became a watchword 
throughout the civilized world in the cause of freedom, 
was very instrumental in the sending forth this mission 
in its present form. He does not shrink from the re- 
sponsibility, if it be one, of having urged on the English 
promoters of the mission, on the late Archbishop of 
Canterbury, and elsewhere, the absolute necessity of 
giving an episcopal head and a proper organization to a 
branch which was to represent the Eeformed Church 
Catholic, as she exists in Cxreat Britain, in a distant 
land ; that so, when planted and watered and taking root 
in that far-off soil, she might resemble in her degree 
the Church, her mother, in her integrity, and perhaps in 
after time become herself ' a piUar'd shade,' the parent 
of other scions in various Oceanic groups. In Convoca- 
tion the Bishop of Oxford instanced Hawaii in his 
speech on the consecration of missionary bishops, and 
bishops receiving sees in the dominions of friendly, 
independent sovereigns. And, unquestionably, his hand 
was active in so guiding proceedings that a licence was 
issued to the Primate of all England which neither 
compromised the Queen's Majesty as temporal head of 
the Church here, nor intrenched on the dignity of the 
Archbishop, nor invaded the sovereign rights of the 
King of Hawaii. In all the necessary steps which 
were taken the bishop acted with the zeal and wisdom 
which make him^ so valuable as a supporter of Church 
missions in all parts of the world. 

It was the duty of the writer of this history to inform 
his late Majesty Kamehameha IV. as to the steps taken 
about the form of the mission and the form of the 



THE CAEE TAKEN TO AVOID OFFENCE. 453 

.warrant by which the Archbishop was enabled, without 
danger of premunii^e, to exercise his spiritual power of 
consecrating* a bishop for Hawaii at the King's own 
request. He acquainted the King that no allegiance 
was claimed from this new bishop, and no jurisdiction 
was attempted to be conferred upon him ; and also that, 
had the word jurisdiction been used, its meaning ex- 
tended no farther than that of power to the bishop to 
decide civil causes in his own court among such English- 
born subjects as chose to come before him as suitors. 

Never was a graft inserted into the wildling olive 
^vLth more tendernesss or care. The earnest considera- 
tion of the late Primate and the Bishops of London and 
Oxford was assisted by the views of the Lord Chancellor 
and the Attorney- Greneral. The steps taken here were 
most constitutional; and in result a bishop left the 
English shores as unfettered as any on record, and his 
landing in the Hawaiian Islands had nothing which 
could raise a fear as to infringement of the King's 
sovereignty and prerogative, or excite alarm of en- 
croachment as regarded any Christian communities 
already settled there. The Church in Hawaii is free and 
independent. She has been espoused by the royal 
family and many of the chiefs ; by foreign residents 
and large numbers of the native population. Her 
mission, she feels, is not to usurp — but to teach and 
bless and save. 

The cry of injury and fear which Christian denomi- 
nations in the islands have uttered at the comino-of the 
English Church— which they describe as an entering in 
on other men's labours, a trespass on their preserves — 
and the opposition which they offer, if not strange, are 
at least uncalled for. The Eoman Catholics cannot 
have already forgotten the aggressive means by which 



454 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

their cliurcli obtained a lodgment in the islands, how- 
ever those transactions may have been afterwards con- 
doned by the Hawaiian government in consideration of 
the personal piety and quiet behaviour of the Komanists 
there. And the American Nonconformists must surely 
remember those principles of religious liberty and 
equahty which they instilled (much to their credit) 
into successive constitutions and enactments, they being 
the advisers of the King and his chiefs. They can 
scarcely have intended that that religious liberty was 
to be confined to their own body, or that equal rights 
supposed no competitors. For the information of 
readers not so well informed as to the state in which 
religious profession was placed under the constitutional 
monarchy, the following extracts are given. 

The second article of the constitution granted by 
King Kamehameha III., in 1852, and by Kame- 
hameha V. in 1864, declares ^All men are free to 
worship aod according to the dictates of their own 
consciences ; but the sacred privilege, hereby secured, 
shall not be construed as to justify acts of licentiousness 
or practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the 
kingdom.' Of the statute laws enacted in 1845-1846, 
the sixth and seventh sections of the second Act relate to 
religion, and proceed as follows : — 

Sect. VI. The rehgion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ shall continue to be the estabhshed national rehgion of 
the Hawaiian Islands. The laws of Kamehameha III., orally 
proclaimed, abohshing all idol worship and ancient heathenish 
customs, are hereby continued in force, and said worship and 
customs are forbidden to be practised in this kingdom, upon 
the pains and penalties to be prescribed in the criminal code. 

Sect. YH. Although the Protestant religion is the rehgion 
of the government as heretofore proclaimed, nothing in the 



RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND PROTECTION. 455 

last preceding section contained shall be construed as requiring 
any particular form of worship, neither is anything therein 
contained to be construed as connecting the ecclesiastical with 
the body politic. All men residing in this kingdom shall be 
freely allowed to worship the God of the Christian Bible, ac- 
cording to the dictates of their own consciences, and this 
sacred privilege shall never be infringed upon. Any dis- 
turbance of religious assemblies, or hindrance of the free and 
unconstrained worship of God, unless such worship be con- 
nected with indecent or improper conduct, shall be considered a 
misdemeanour, and punished as in and by the criminal code 
prescribed. 

The above articles and sections express complete 
tolerance in religion, and disclaim the implication of a 
state religion, farther than in connecting the govern- 
ment with the Protestant form of Christianity. 

Still less will the dissenting community deny with 
truth the historic fact that England was frequently 
invited during sixty years to send clerical assistance to 
Hawaii ; from the time when Vancouver bore the first 
message for help, and Liholiho preferred the same re- 
quest with his own lips on his visit to this country. 
Mr. Wyllie, the late Foreign Minister, in a letter to the 
writer of this account, dated 14th December 1859, re- 
counts the successive attempts which were made to 
obtain an episcopal church and clergyman in Honolulu, 
evidencing a continuous desire for it. It is true that 
the Hawaiian kings and chiefs did not ask for a bishop 
—they might in former years as well have thought of 
asking for the moon. The time for missionary bishops 
was not come, — but now is come : and the English 
Church does not feel she has done her duty in propa- 
gating herself in distant places, by sending a single 
unaided clergyman to struggle with overwhelming 



,456 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

numbers and difficulties, to sink or swim in "his solitary 
endeavours to convert millions of heathens, having at 
the same time to sustain the glow-worm-like flame of 
his own faith and courage and energy. So the request 
of 1859, it is well known, did not at first contemplate 
a bishop. When Dean Swift was asked by a beggar for 
a mug of his honour's small-beer, he replied that beggars 
should not be choosers, and he ordered him up a jug 
of ale. On the request for a clergyman being made, 
those in England who know now what missions must be 
to be effective, pointed out the necessity for an episcopal 
head, and showed their readiness in trying to procure 
one for Hawaii ; and this enlargement of the plan was 
immediately and gladly followed by the King's request 
that a bishop should be appointed and consecrated for 
his dominions. The Bishop of Oxford distinctly stated 
that he would not join in endeavours to send forth a 
mission that was not properly constituted by having a 
bishop at its head ; and in this view he spoke the mind 
of some of the most important of its promoters. The 
writers and speakers who have been ready to complain 
of one particular prelate having taken so considerable 
a part in the planting of the English Church in the 
islands of Hawaii have connected with that bishop's 
name the names of one or two other persons who are 
often seen associated with him in active works of re- 
ligion. They also have asserted that one great body in 
the church has been exclusively the promoter and sup- 
porter of the mission. This latter assertion is not 
correct. Among the contributors to the mission are 
numbered some of those who take to themselves the 
distinctive title of Evangelical — a title which no real 
Christian will consent to forego, except as a convenient 
distinction of schools existino^ in one church. When 



ALL ASKED TO CO-OPEEATE. 457 

invitations were addressed to the Societies for Propagating 
.the Grospel, and for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 
a similar appeal was made to the Church Missionary 
Society: and it is only due to that great Society, as well 
as to the Hawaiian Mission, to mention that the grounds 
of non-compliance with the work of co-operation sub- 
mitted to the managers of the C. M. S. were stated to 
be, that the grants made by the Society already exceeded 
its income; and its fundamental rule that its efforts 
were to be directed to lands where Christ is not named, 
and not to those countries which already profess Chris- 
tianity. It is right that these facts should be stated ; 
because although, in one land, men earnest in the cause 
of religion, impressed strongly with their particular 
views, think it well to work apart from others, yet in a 
country too young in religion and too far removed to 
understand the distinctions which lead to this division 
of labour, there ought to be but one church, as there is 
but one sun in the heavens. 

Under the declarations contained in successive con- 
stitutions quoted above, there can be little fear of an 
Erastian Church founding itself in Hawaii: and the 
danger in the case of the Reformed Catholic Communion 
is still farther removed from the tendencies of that 
church itself — its independence and its autonomy. It 
has already adopted synodal action, and its synod is 
composed of laymen and clergy, the former preponder- 
ating in numbers. The members of this council or 
sjmod are also the trustees of the church buildings and 
property. There can be no state endowment of the 
church. The American missionaries and their friends 
pronounce themselves strongly against all future grants 
or endowments, either to the Anglican body or to 
themselves. The English perfectly assent to this 



458 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

decision : but one has to remember that the American 
missionary churches, schools, &c., are already endowed, 
and that nearly all the former missionaries received 
grants. It is always pleasing to see self-restraint ; but 
that virtue is not so striking when the practitioner of it 
denies himself receiving what he already possesses, and 
checks his appetite after he has eaten and is full. 

There ought, then, to be no ground for strife among 
those who profess their lives devoted to bringing to the 
Hawaiian people the blessings of the Grospel, and not 
only converting them, but training them in a new and 
sanctified life. Let not the most earnest among the 
American body judge the Ghurch of England hardly 
even in this day, if it be so, of small things. There are 
men among the former of enlightened views — instance 
the late Dr. Armstrong — and of gentle, earnest spirit ; 
men whom love directs. If it be not invidious to select 
one name from among several, that of Mr. Damon 
might be stated, about whom no word of dispraise seems 
ever to be uttered : and who, by a long course of Chris- 
tian devotion and kindness, has won to himself the high 
esteem of all who know him. He pursues his minis- 
trations in his chapel In Honolulu, called the Bethel 
Church, the place of worship specially intended for sea- 
men who visit the port. 

If the American missionary party would calmly and 
candidly survey the results of forty years of their occu- 
pancy of the islands as religious teachers, and of the 
million of dollars which they urge has been spent by 
America in supporting their mission, so far from being 
satisfied with what has yet been done, they should gladly 
see any fresh Christian agency brought to bear on a 
population still for the greater part sunk in ignorance, 
vicious habits, and, it must be added, idolatry : a popu- 



CAUSES OF FOEMER NON-SUCCESS. 459 

lation sinning against the laws of health as well as 
morality, and perishing from the earth in consequence. 
Enough has been written already about their vices; 
but later witnesses, those who have acquired the lan- 
guage, tell us how the pollution of mind and body 
spreads itself in their most ordinary conversation, and 
infects almost the lisping words of children. And then 
the snaky form of idolatry, so tenacious of life, and 
which proves to have been scotched, not killed, is lifting 
up her head again. Kahunas (priests) of Pele are still 
to be met with ; the old heathenism shows itself when 
under terror or pain the man throws aside the mask 
and speaks out ; and many well-authenticated cases of 
praying to death have been met with even within the 
last two years. 

Several circumstances would conduce to the want of 
more complete success on the part of the American 
missionaries, even leaving out of sight the radical 
question as to the promise of power which accompanies 
authority in those duly sent forth to evangelize the 
world, by Christ. It is not a question which I shall 
enter upon ; nor do I leave out of sight the fact that 
the missionaries were acting in a field where authorized 
teachers had not been sent. There were practical detri- 
ments independently. There was a mistake as to the 
characteristics of the native race ; a mistake as to the 
adaptiveness of Christianity to conform itself to men- 
tal idiosyncrasies, and form itself into new vessels 
moulded differently from those which had previously 
contained it. There was, probably, incompatibility 
between some of the persons and the work they engaged 
in, — the difficulty of square, even angular, men in 
round holes, and so forth. They were blind to salient 
features in the national character — their belief in aris- 



460 .. HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

tocracy, their fine organization of eye and ear, their 
acute observing and reasoning powers, their sense of 
the ludicrous. It was a drawback to the dignity, and 
therefore to the usefulness, of the missionaries, that 
many of them engaged in trade, and that of a very 
retail kind. They may urge that it was needful to have 
some means of supporting themselves and their families, 
several of them being proletary in character. Farther, 
they may perhaps remind us that Paul the apostle was 
Saul the tent-maker. As to the former difficulty, we 
may point out the fact they themselves are justly proud 
of, that Northern America contributed a million of 
dollars for the support of the mission ; that there were 
schools of missionaries' children, and other provision 
made in their behalf. If, then, it was necessary for a 
missionary to keep a store, we say that it was an un- 
fortunate adjunct, and a detriment to his more spiritual 
functions ; for a congregation can hardly be so much im- 
pressed with Sunday preaching against unworldliness 
and in praise of elevation to the spiritual life, when 
they remember that on Saturday they haggled with 
their minister about the price of a pair of shoes, or, on 
Friday, had to complain to him of short weight in a 
piece of bacon. And as to any argument based on the 
example of the apostles, we must bear in mind that the 
world has changed its views in this and many other 
secular things, and has introduced lines of demarcation 
which did not exist when the Eoman citizen was deemed 
incomplete who had not acquired an art or a trade. 
St. Paul acted according to the customs of his con- 
temporaries, and in conformity with their ways of 
thinking in these matters. Now, there are different 
customs in society and new modes of thought, and the 



OUR OWN HEART-IDOLS. 461 

ministers of the Church, with great advantage, adapt 
themselves to the atmosphere in which they live. 

It is in no spirit of triumph that these facts are re- 
corded. They only show the infection of our nature, 
and the weakness of our means to struggle against and 
overcome it. We need but look at home, and we shall 
see that — after centuries of Christianity, ministers of 
religion spread throughout the land, books, tracts. 

Bibles laid open, millions of surprises, 
The sound of glory ringing in our ears — 

idolatry is not extinct ; it only takes another and less 
material form. Self, our will, power, are the gods of our 
idolatry. A calf of gold, it is true, is no longer set up 
for our prostrations ; but money is worshipped by rich 
and poor, and a guinea is the graven image to which 
we bow down. 

Great then is the need for help; and this should 
rather have made the teachers of religion who have 
the people's welfare at their heart joyful to see new 
labourers enter the vineyard, though themselves had 
already borne the heat of some hours of day, and to 
have induced them to be tolerant if they found the 
new comers differ from themselves in certain lines of 
thought and methods of proceeding; for still there 
might have been maintained truth in essentials, liberty 
in non-essentials, and charity in all things. But it had 
not this effect. It is said that Eomanists and Dissenters 
made friends on the approach of those whom they looked 
upon as a common enemy, and that men of the ex- 
tremest divergence in religion approached in order to 
exclude the English Church. We are reminded of what 
Wheatley speaks of the religionists of his day, whom he 
compares to the foxes which Samson tied together by 



462 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

their tails with a fire-brand between them, to burn the 
Philistines' corn ; for they whose heads were turned in 
contrary directions were united in this, the desire to do 
mischief to the Church of England. How needful then 
is the prayer which that church uses day by day, ' that 
all who profess and call themselves Christians may be 
led into the way of truth ; and hold the faith in unity 
of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of 

life.' 

It has been already mentioned that the bishop and 
his clergy were received on their arrival with the utmost 
kindness, though the King and Queen were absent from 
Honolulu. The King's father, aovernor of Oahu, to- 
gether with Mr. Wyllie the Foreign Minister, and Mr. 
Synge the English Commissioner, came on board to 
welcome them, and a residence had been provided for 
the bishop's family and for Mr. Mason's. A meeting- 
house had also been purchased in Honolulu for the 
Church Mission, which though mean, ugly, and insuffi- 
cient, was important to have at once; but an immediate 
* transformation was made in its interior by arranging 
the furniture and other movables they had brought with 
them from England. This wooden and temporary 
structure is, up to the present time, the only building 
representing the bishop's chair or cathedral of Hono- 
lulu. 

On the 23rd the King, who had returned to the 
capital immediately on hearing of the arrival of the 
mission, presided at a meeting held at the Court House 
for deciding on its plan of action. On this occasion 
the name and style of the mission was fixed as ' The 
Hawaiian Keformed Catholic Church.' A synod was 
also decided on for the government of the temporal 
concerns of the new church, and for the assistance of 



FIRST ACTS OF TEE MISSION. 463. 

the bishop in consultation. Among the first members 
of the synod were Grovernor Kekuanoa the King's father. 
Judge Eobertson, and Mr. Harris, the Attorney-General, 
Mr. T. Brown, together with the Bishop and his clergy. 

The death of the Prince of Hawaii having prevented 
the public inauguration of the mission which had been 
intended, the adhesion of the King and Queen was 
made known by their being publicly confirmed in the 
church on the 28th of November. For many years 
persons had lived in his islands without having the 
opportunity of participating in the rite of confirmation, 
who now took advantage of the arrival of the Bishop ; 
and on St. Andrew's Day, being also Advent Sunday, 
Mr. Wyllie, Judge Eobertson, and Mr. Harris were 
confirmed. 

The twihght of Advent was leading to a bright sun- 
rising that Christmas. The zeal of the new comers, 
and the readiness of those among whom they came, 
united in a Christian festival which was as brilliant as 
it was impressive. The following interesting account 
of the proceedings is taken from Archdeacon Mason's 
letters, and is given here in his own words : 

' On Christmas Eve, the arrangements in the church were 
finished by 5 p.m., and I never saw in England a church so 
beautifully decorated. The natives have great taste in these 
matters. Here too we have all the advantage over you in 
being able to get all kinds of flowers at this season. 

* To make up for the want of holly, we were able to make use 
of a shrub with large red cone-shaped berries. Crosses, circles 
(emblems of eternity), and the sacred initials I.H.S. abounded. 
Over the altar was the text " The Word was made flesh," in 
native and in English : other texts about the church, such as 
" Unto us a child is born," " Emmanuel, God with us," &c. 
The King lent all his silver candelabra, so that when night 



464 ' HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

came, and the time for the midnight service arrived (11.30), 
the church was a perfect blaze of light. The Litany was first 
softly chanted in native. Then the bishop and clergy put on, 
their best robes, and with a choir of twenty in surplices we 
walked in procession round the church singing " Adeste 
Fideles" (Draw near, ye Faithful). Then the Holy Com- 
munion service commenced— choral throughout. About thirty 
received. After the consecration of the elements we sang, on 
our knees, the beautiful hymn " Thee we adore a hidden 
Saviour " (Novello's hymns. Ancient and Modern). 

' The church was densely crowded, but all conducted them- 
selves in a most orderly manner. Service over at 1 a.m. A 
salute was fired from the battery, and then commenced such a 
grand night-scene as I can only faintly describe. Tar barrels 
were lighted on the top of Punchbowl Hill and rolled down. 
The King had provided twenty torches eight feet long, made, 
ofKukuiwood and cocoa-nut fibres dipped in tar— also an 
innumerable number of blue lights. We all formed in rank, 
the King, Bishop, and Mr. Synge walking together, the torch- 
men forming our bodyguard— and thus we proceeded through 
the town, singing carols. It was a beautiful night, and the 
effect was one never to be forgotten. The grand close was at 
the palace, where we at last arrived. The torches and blue 
lights were ranged round the small circular piece of water in 
the middle of the palace courtyard. The fountains played 
grandly, and the reflection of the torch lights, together with 
the clear brilliant moonlight of these latitudes on the water, 
and on the dark excited faces of the people, was very re-" 
markable. At this moment some really good fireworks were 
let off, and rockets shot up into the air, amidst deafening shouts, 
from L thousand voices for the King and Queen. Then we 
sang the grand old carol of " Good king Winceslaus ; " and 
aftex a glass of champagne-punch we made the air ring with the 
National Anthem, and another round of protracted " Hurrahs, 
and so to bed.' 

Such was the first Christinas eve in Honolulu. Its 
enthusiasm will provoke in some a smile of pity or an 



ORGANIZATION OF THE MISSION. 465 

expression of disdain. The circumstance of the king 
of a nation joining in the midnight revelry will enhance 
the ready sarcasm. David's dance before the ark will 
be remembered and cited,— his answer to the woman 
who expressed her scorn for her husband will be con- 
veniently forgotten. 

Before the return of Christmas eve Kamehameha was 
dead. In 1864 some slight festivities of the same sort 
were attempted, but they were flat in comparison of 
their predecessor. To the mourning Queen the return 
of the great Christian feast comes fraught with mixed 
emotions. The very brightness of past joy casts a dis- 
tincter image in the dark water of the present ; and she 
cannot help knowing by her own sad experience 

' That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things.' 

The work and organization of the mission proceeded 
earnestly. Mr. Scott was established at Lahaina, on 
the neighbouring island of Maui, and the second town 
of importance belonging to the kingdom. Mr. Mason 
and Mr. Ibbotson remained in Honolulu. The services 
in the church were crowded, and on account of the in- 
sufficient size of the building, numbers of persons had 
to go away each Sunday from want of room ; yet there 
were six services held in the church on that day. Mrs. 
Mason conducted a female school or college built by 
the King at his own expense. Schools and school- 
teachers were the great necessity ; and Mrs. Staley gave 
up the nursery governess she had brought with her from 
England to take charge of a school at Lahaina. Mr. 
Hyde having arrived to work as a schoolmaster, and 
Mr. Elkington having been ordained deacon by the 
bishop, farther education became possible; but the 



H H 



466 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

teaching power was quite inadequate to tlie work that 

waited to be done. 

Major Hoapili, who has since received, deacon's 
orders, assisted as a catechist, and hopes were enter- 
tained that two females who were sent out to the 
mission from this country would have proved service- 
able. Their going, however, was a mistake, and has 
been a cause of disappointment to the bishop. 

Far different has been the result of the arrival of 
three sisters from the Devonport House, one of whom 
had to return after some months, whilst her two com- 
panions remained to devote their energies and lives in 
the cause they have espoused. All these ladies were in 
the Crimea during the Russian war ; and the knowledge 
of medicine and surgery which one of them acquired 
has been of the utmost service to the natives among 
whom she is placed. They not only keep a girls' school 
at Lahaina, but visit the natives at their habitations. 
The Romanist Sisters of the Sacred Heart may be as 
indefatigable in their labours, but they do not visit or 
employ themselves beyond the walls of their convent. 

One of the first institutions organized by the bishop 
in Honolulu was the Cathedral District Visiting Society, 
composed of ladies both native and English, for the 
sick, poor, &c. Of this the Queen became the head and 
patroness ; and, it must be added, the most constant 
and devoted visitor in the homes of the poor and afflicted 
natives. Services were established in the Queen's Hos- 
pital and in the prison. 

Besides the Industrial Female College at Honolulu, 
to which the government contributes 100^. per annum, 
the Cathedral Grrammar School for boys was started, 
and an adult Sunday school opened. At Kauai, another 
island, a station was commenced with church and boys' 



THE bishop's PASTOEAL ADDEESS. 467 

school. A brotherhood, composed of natives and 
foreigners, was also set on foot for the advancement of 
the activity of the Church, and for doing offices of 
mercy, &c. 

Thus as much work was taken in hand as the bishop's 

limited staff could possibly hope to accomplish more 

than the limited means of the mission could quite sup- 
port ; and the bishop had to forego part of the small 
stipend that was assigned to him. To all who took 
part in the mission it was a work and labour of love. 

In consequence of misrepresentation, which, as a 
matter of course, soon assailed the English Church, and 
in answer to misstatements contained in a report of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 
sitting at Boston, and the attacks made in Dr. Eufus 
Anderson's book, previously mentioned, the bishop de- 
livered on the 1st of January, 1865, a pastoral address 
to his congregation, in refutation of the assertions which 
had been made, and to set the facts of the case before 
the world. This address was afterwards printed and 
largely circulated. 

Later in the year, a Eomanist having sought in print 
to invalidate English orders, Archdeacon Mason wrote 
a defence, in the form of a pamphlet, which, short as it 
is, is an admirable compendium of statement and argu- 
ment : and it forms a useful handbook for churchmen 
in other places besides Hawaii, especially as it is con- 
ceived in an earnest and kindly temper. 

The Episcopal Church in North America has expressed 
from the first promotion of the Hawaiian Mission her 
readiness and pleasure in joining her efforts with those 
of the English Church, and in going hand in hand with 
her on so great an errand of love. The supervening of 
the civil war at the moment when she would have lent 

H H 2 






468 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

her aid, prevented for tlie time that joint action she had 
intended. As soon as the cloud of battle and the tramp 
of marching men had ceased to dim the eye and oppress 
the ear, the American Church redeemed her promise to 
us and to herself. At the commencement of 1865, the 
Reverend Peyton Gallagher arrived in Honolulu from 
the United States ; a man in many ways highly fitted 
to give great assistance to the work and to strengthen 
the bishop's hands. Later in the year another clergy- 
man, Mr. Whipple, brother of the Bishop of Minnesota, 
came. The former, when he approached the head of the 
mission, bore with him a flag to be carried by the bishop 
as his ensign when he directed his path across the 
waters to the islands of his diocese. As with the old 
prophets—Isaiah carrying the cup to the kings of the 
earth in turn, or Chenaanah with his horns of iron,— so 
the outward symbol of conquest and expansion attracted 
the eyes of all who saw that meeting, and perhaps led 
them to think that Christianity is a living and expansive 
power, and that other ocean groups beyond their own 
archipelago are still sitting in darkness, ahd mutely 
waiting till the torch of light and truth shall be handed 
to them, that they too may arise and shine. 

In the autumn of 1865 the Bishop of Honolulu 
visited the United States, and was present at the con- 
gress of bishops held at New York. Resolutions were 
passed that the Church in America >vould assist with all 
her power the mission in Hawaii, and would support two 
clergymen there, to be under the bishop's jurisdiction. 
Material help was given, and the utmost kindness shown 
in the States to Dr. Staley. 

The present ecclesiastical organization in Hawan 

consists of — 

The Bishop; the Eight Reverend T. N. Staley, D.D. 



STAFF OF THE ENGLISH MISSION. 469 

Clergymen in Priest's orders — 

The Venerable Archdeacon G. Mason, M.A. 

The Eev. E. Ibbotson. 

The Rev. Peyton Gallagher, M.A. 

The Rev. H. B. Whipple. 

(The two last are from America.) 

In Deacon's orders — 

The Rev. J. J. Elkington. 
The Rev. W. Hoapili Kaauwai. 

(The latter is the first ordained native.) 

The lay members of the Synod consist of — 

H.R.H. M. Kekuanaoa. (The King's father.) 

The Hon. D. Kalakaua. 

Judge Robertson. 

The Hon. C. C. Harris : Attorney- General. 

G. H. Luce, Esq. 

D. Smith, Esq. 

T. Brown, Esq. : Treasurer. 

Another English clergyman is on his way to the islands, 
having left his preferments in this country for a period 
of three years, to take part in the work of the mission. 
And a gentleman trained in the college of St. Augustine's, 
Canterbury, is making preparations to proceed there, 
and to build a church in some district where it is most 
needed. 

The venerable Society for Propagating the Grospel in 
Foreign Parts pays a moiety of the stipend of two 
clergymen ; the sister Society, for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge, has also made grants to the extent of 1,200^. 
towards the purposes of the mission. 

Thus the vital scion of an ordained and pure Church 



470 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

has been ' grafted in ' on the stock of the wild olive. It 
requires to be sheltered from rude winds and watched 
over against the canker which may sap its life. Watered 
by the prayers and donations of fellow Christians, and 
waiting always for a blessing from on high, it may grow 
and spread, and be a crowning joy to islands that long 
sat in darkness. But much requires yet to be done to 
make this effort successful in a large sense. It wants 
more clergy, more schoolmasters and mistresses, an en- 
dowment to place the mission on a secure and permanent 
basis, and to prevent the recurrence of appeals to other 
countries for large help. It requires a church in the 
capital, spacious enough to contain the usual congrega- 
tions which attend the services, and sufficiently solid 
and handsome to take its place with the Eoman Catholic 
cathedral and the two stone edifices of the American 
congregations. It is necessary that all who go forth to 
the work should be capable people ; zealous, well in- 
structed, and fine tempered. Those who go thither to 
procure a mere living, or to carry out their own religious 
hobbies, are worse than useless, and become a dead 
weight on the mission and its funds. One great element 
of prosperity must be the Christian lives of those lay 
residents and visitors in the islands who profess ' that 
worthy name,' and are the representatives of Christian 
England. Terrible scandals have occurred, even quite 
recently, in the conduct of our country people. Such 
misdoings sow doubt and contempt on a nation and 
Church, whose children profess not only to be them- 
selves enlightened by religion, but to come among less 
happy peoples to communicate those blessings to them. 
Female help is especially needed : for in the present 
condition of the population of the islands, the assistance 
of English ladies, spotless in character, pure in spirit. 



WHAT IT LACKS YET. 471 

and possessing good abilities, is invaluable. More than 
all to be desired, are additions from such as have been 
prepared and trained in sisterhoods or under the super- 
intendence of their parochial clergyman, and are able, 
as soon as they arrive in Hawaii, to commence system- 
atically the offices of teaching in schools and at home, 
visiting the poor, consoling the sick and sorrowful — for 
even the work of consolation requires to be learnt — 
winning back the erring and fallen, and remedying and 
healing bodily hurts and illness in places where regular 
professional aid is not to be had. 

But it may be thought that there is danger in pure 
and young women being thus brought face to face and in 
daily intercourse with the vicious and the impure. To 
religious and well-instructed women, however young, 
the danger apprehended is little or nothing. Vice will 
not assume to them its seductive mask; its naked 
^features of such hideous mien,' are those she will 
present : whilst the effect on the sinful of a character 
full of holy love and sympathy is powerful beyond all 
other moral levers. One whose own pure life and in- 
tellectual endowments made us lament his defection 
from our Church, and dispirited us * as when a standard- 
bearer fainteth,' remarks : * We find, even among men, 
that sympathy is more or less perfect, as the holiness of 
the person is more or less so. . . . Just as a man 
becomes infected by the power of evil, he ceases to 
sympathise with others. . . . None hate sin but 
those who are holy, and that in the measure of their 
holiness. ... To have sinned ourselves is not 
necessary to perfect our sympathy with sinners. Eather, 
it is the property of spotless sanctity to flow forth with the 
fullest stream of compassion. Who would mourn over 
a sister's fall so intensely as she who is all pure and full 



472 HAWAII A.N ISLANDS. 

of sensitive fear of so much as a sullying thought ? To 
have fallen and to have repented could add nothing to 
her intense love and sorrow, to her absolute humilia- 
tion for another's transgression.' * 

It will not be here attempted to combat — indeed 
there is not space — the prejudices which may have 
been conceived to the procedure of the English Church 
in Hawaii. With regard to ritual and the aid of music, 
there will be, in a church where both freedom and 
multitudinism prevail, differences of view as to the 
exact line of demarcation. If an ornate service, com- 
pared with the services customary with Calvinistic and 
other dissenting bodies, be the means of drawing the 
people to the church, as certainly seems to be the case ; 
and if many who come to listen stay to pray, and good 
doctrine enter ears which were opened by sweet sounds, 
then, on the very ground of expediency, such services 
cannot be complained of. If this be taking men with 
guile, the great Apostle of the Gentiles is ready with an 
excuse for so acting, that ' by all means he might save 
some.' We need only add that musical and emblem- 
atical services were in daily use till the Jewish temple 
was changed for Christian churches, and that, notwith- 
staoding this change, musical and emblematic services 
were continued certainly till the sixteenth century. We 
will not dispute the fact, that a religion that can pre- 
serve its fire and life without any adventitious aids is a 
higher and less sensuous worship than one which is 
helped by eye and ear and tongue and gesture, yet 
whilst men walk on earth, children, not angels, all helps 
are valuable that first lead men even to the door of 
religion. Such assistance is neither to be discarded or 

* Manning's Sermons. ' The Sympathy of Christ.* 



EITUAL AND NON-ESSENTIALS. 473 

too much relied on ; it can only be the humble hand- 
maid to faith and good works. Its use must be pro- 
portioned to the taste and desire of the people, and 
according to the good the instrument effects. A little 
of the feminine mind is likely to mingle itself with the 
mental constitution of persons whose profession removes 
them from the more earthly and masculine walk of 

laics, — and female men are found in all professions, 

and a little insidious love of dress and display will creep 
unawares into the hearts of good people, which, after 
all, might be occupied with feelings sterner, harder, and 
less innocent. And we must concede that, beginning 
in a genuine and reverential motive, the desire to de- 
corate the house of God and to render holy worship 
attractive, minor details exercise a charm and afford 
relaxation to persons whose souls are deeply set on 
deeper things. As St. John the Divine used to recreate 
himself by playing with a tame partridge, so the 
arrangement of flowers, the embroidery of a stole, or 
the illuminating a text in illegible letters, may afford 
relief to minds weary with labour, and hearts heavy 
with the darkness and misery they see around them. 
Let us make tender allowance, therefore, for these non- 
essentials, and suppose that time and good sense will 
tame them, if ever they have exceeded, and keep them 
within their proper limits, and in due subordination to 
the whole system. The opponents of our Church are 
not to suppose that that Church erects means into ends, 
or thinks to secure success by arts or strifes or political 
manoeuvre. 

When Furius Cresinius, the Eoman peasant, was 
accused by his jealous neighbours of sorcery, because 
his few diligently cultivated acres produced abundantly, 
whilst their great neglected estates brought forth but 



474 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

little, he was cited before the tribunal and was com- 
manded to bring the instruments of his magic with 
him. The honest man laid on the floor of the court 
his mattock, his hoe, and his rake ; and when told to 
produce the apparatus of his black art, he pointed to 
his tools, and said, ' these are my only instruments of 
magic, except my bullock and my plough, which I left 
at the door. By these, together with the sweat of my 
brow by day and my anxious care at night, and the 
assisting labours of this my good daughter, have the 
crops which excite my rich neighbours' anger been 
won from the soil ; and these are all the instruments of 
my thaumaturgy.' The judges immediately gave their 
suffrao-es in favour of Cresinius, and his accusers left 
the court with shame. 

And thus it must be with the Church Mission in the 
Sandwich Islands, and with all Christian missions. It 
is not by detraction of others that they will seek to 
succeed, nor by asserting magic in sacraments, or erect- 
ing the omission of a ceremony into a deadly sin: 
salvation will not be paraded as a thing of albs and 
chasubles; neither will eternal life be taught as de- 
pending on crying * glory ! ' at the hour of death, nor 
by making acts, in themselves indifferent, sins by act of 
legislature, and snares to weak consciences. The 
weapons of a successful warfare of the mission will be 
those of gentle love, forbearance, self-sacrifice, a con- 
sistent course ; the evidence of a sound faith, diligent 
teaching and preaching ; the frequent use of ordinances ; 
the constancy of prayer ; earnest care in educating the 
young and sheltering the lambs of the flock from con- 
taminating influences ; and, above all, the example in 
the missionaries and their families of a holy, unosten- 
tatious life, more eloquent than a thousand homilies. 



THERE IS HOPE IN THINE END. 475 

Yet with all devotion, and anxious care, and after 
years of labour, the results may be very disappointing. 
It is very hard to train one individual in holiness, even 
when the affections and care of a life concentrate upon 
him. What then of the thousands of souls committed 
to a single clergyman ? What of a people long inured 
to frightful impurity, to the traditions of idolatry, and 
brought up in invincible ignorance ? Can the leopard 
change his spots ? Can habits of centuries be trans- 
formed in a day ? A very desponding opinion has been 
formed by some in the Hawaiian islands that nothing 
can be hoped for in the present adult generation. 
Ephraim is joined unto idols : let him alone ! Terrible 
doom. And they think that all hope must be limited 
to the generation which has to succeed, by taking the 
children, newly-born infants even, and training them 
up in seclusion from evil that surrounds them. Happily, 
this view is not shared in by all who have given them- 
selves to this particular work. Happily, bright ex- 
amples are found of adult men and women among the 
natives who shine as lights, and send rays of hope into 
the beholder's heart. Cry, ' faint not ! ' therefore ; but 
lay the hand resolutely to the plough. ' Look not on 
the dead bones, and dust, and difficulty; but on the 
promise. Yea, let us be steadfast, immoveable, always 
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we 
know our labour is not in vain in the Lord.' * 

* Baxter. 



476 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

ACCESSION OF KAMEHAMEHA V. THE ^ COUP d'eTAT.' 

UNDER the style and title of Kamehameha Y., 
Prince Lot Kamehameha, as he had been named 
by suggestion of the American missionaries — Prince 
Lota, as he was called by the native people — succeeded 
to the Hawaiian throne, on the 30th of November, 1863. 
Born on the Uth of December 1830, the present King 
was three years the senior of his deceased brother. With 
many features of resemblance, there were sufficient 
points of difference in his character to make him un- 
like Kamehameha IV. Possessed of great energy and 
firmness, he had shown large administrative capacity 
as Minister of Interior ; and he still shows an unusual 
disregard for the mere externals of royalty, though he 
loves and maintains the substantial part — the power of 
his position. 

The new King's first act was one of clemency. He 
liberated from prison certain persons confined under 
judicial sentence, and restored others to their civil 
rights which they had forfeited. Prisoners and mal- 
contents seem, in all parts of the world, to have a 
valuable interest in the death of kings. His next step 
was to reorganize the Board of Health. He then turned 
his thoughts to a subject which, indeed, had occupied 



THE CONSTITUTION AS IT WAS. 477 

them long before — the constitution of the kingdom, and 
he was dissatisfied with it. 

By the articles of the constitution, given to the people 
in 1852 by Kamehameha III., it was incumbent on the 
successor to the vacant throne to take an oath that he 
would maintain the constitution of the kingdom whole 
and inviolate, and would govern in conformity there- 
with. The King abstained from taking this oath. 
There were components in the existing constitution 
which were in his mind objectionable, and he resolved 
to seize the opportunity for making reforms and bringing 
the kingdom into farther accordance with the most 
enlightened European monarchies. During his brother's 
reign, he had had leisure and means for observing the 
working of a system which contained the elements of 
democracy and puritanism. It will be necessary to 
recall in a few words the growth of this political system. 
Up to the year 1839, the Hawaiian Islands were governed 
by an absolute monarch, and upon strictly feudal prin- 
ciples. In that year the efforts of the American 
missionaries and ex-missionaries, who had given much 
useful assistance in governing the country, worked so 
far on the patriotic and bon-vivant King, Kameha- 
meha III., as to induce him to sign a Bill of Eights, 
and the following year, to grant a constitution, by 
which absolute rule was yielded up, and irresponsible 
power exchanged for government by the three estates 
of king, nobles, and people. 

Theoretically considered, the rights of men living in 
societies are hexagons. This is deducible from the 
antecedent proposition that the right of each individual, 
in isolation, extends as a circle round the person ; and 
were the wills of all men of equal intensity, the circles 
would be of equal diameter. By the gravitating force 



478 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

of society, a pressure being exerted on all the circles, 
they become converted into hexagons, coterminous and, 
again theoretically, impenetrable. But, in practice, 
stronger wills extend larger circles and harder outlines. 
Thus, other right-cells are crushed, deformed, and 
obliterated ; and the will of a leviathan annihilates the 
operative will of millions, reducing them to nonenti- 
ties, or mere rudimentary existences — nails, and screws, 
and unseen bricks in the social pyramid. It is rare in- 
deed to find the leviathan voluntarily denuding himself 
of his monopoly. It is sometimes wrung from him by 
knowledge, which gradually re-animating the dead nails 
and screws, and restoring the elasticity of the crushed 
dissepiments, restores in part the personality of the mul- 
titude, and clothes them with some defigurated rights. 

The King had never been out of his own small 
dominions. He had to be guided by the teaching and 
advice of the active-minded men who had already 
vohmteered to assist in holding the reins of govern- 
ment, and who showed that they would not be averse 
to take the ribbons entirely into their own hands upon 
occasion. But at that time the King's advisers did 
not prompt to greater change than the conversion of 
absolutism into limited monarchy. 

The scheme of government thus produced was natu- 
rally a hybrid one. Its promoters were Americans; 
they were missionaries, or persons who, having been 
missionaries, had left that calling for official or officious 
life. The constitution was a mosaic, to which the 
Pentateuch, the British Grovernment, and the American 
Declaration of Independence each contributed a part. 
Yet, in spite of manifold defects, it was a revolution in 
the right direction. It lasted twelve years ; and under 
it the nation advanced in civilization and prosperity. 



GROWTH OF A CONSTITUTION. 479 

The administration consisted of four departments- 
there was a minister of interior affairs, who was also 
premier ; a minister of foreign relations, of finance, of 
public instruction; and an attorney-general. Statute 
laws were passed, and a little tinkering of the consti- 
tution began. 

It seemed the fate of all political opinion, when 
acclimatized in Hawaii, to * suffer a sea change.' So 
we see a tyrant taking up limited monarchy, democrats 
from the United States constituting a kingdom; and 
now we are to witness an early and ardent member of 
the Eeform Club converted into a staunch Conservative, 
and an American attorney-general writing himself in 
one of his letters ' a rank Tory.' 

With the infusion of fresh blood, it came to pass 
that, in 1850, the King recommended a new constitu- 
tion, and appointed a commission of three persons to 
frame a new model. It was perfected, and, in 1852, 
was signed by the King, who died in something less 
than two years afterwards. This constitution was an 
advance on the former one ; but a good deal of the 
Levitical element and some revolutionary rags remained 
in it. Dr. Judd was one of the three commissioners, 
his coadjutors being the chief Joane li, and the Chief 
Justice Lee. The two former of this triad will make 
theii- reappearance hereafter. 

It happened that while much discussion was going 
on in Honolulu about the proposed new constitution, 
the Hawaiian consulate in China was represented by the 
senior member of the commercial house of Jardine and 
Company. At the same time. Sir John Bowring was 
governor of Hong Kong; and a correspondence was 
brought about between the latter and Mr. Wyllie on 
the same subject, and a draft of the constitution was 



480 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

sent to Sir John for his opinion. The editor of Jeremy 
Bentham objected to the opening sentence, in which it 
is asserted that all men are created free and equal. 
Bentham had himself been the correspondent of several 
of the American Presidents ; and in his ' Critical Ex- 
amination of the Declaration of Eights,' exposed the 
pretension that ' all men are born free and equal.' ' No 
man ever was, is, or will be, born free ; all are born 
helpless children, in a state of absolute subjection to 
parents, and, in many countries as slaves, in vassalage 
to owners ; and as to equality, the statement is absurd, 
the condition of no two men, to say nothing of all, 
being equal, in the many gradations which exist, of 
wealth and poverty, servants and masters, influence 
and position.' Sir John, who had been Bentham's most 
intimate friend and executor, quoted the views of his 
master, which also appeared to his own mind incon- 
testable. In spite, however, of any efforts which Mr. 
Wyllie could make, supported by the China correspon- 
dence, the constitution commenced with the old asser- 
tion, 'Grod hath created all men free and equal.' 
Article 12 pronounced that, 'No person who imports a 
slave, or slaves, into the king's dominions, shall ever 
enjoy any civil or political rights in this realm.' Article 
19 prescribed, 'AH elections of the people shall be by 
ballot;' and Article 78 established manhood-suffrage. 
Moreover, the king's power was checked and controlled 
by the strange institution of the Kuliina-Nui — an in- 
vention which, if borrowed from any other nation, 
must have come from Japan. This ' regulator ' to the 
government machine, who stood above ministers, and, 
as it were, on the uppermost step of the throne, 
might be a man or a woman— indeed, was generally 
the latter. Her power at times must have been not a 



A CONTEKTIOJJ EESOLTED ON. 481 

little detrimental to the progress of business, since the 
consftuhon provided that 'the King and the Kuhina- 
nui shall have a negative on each other's public acts.' 
Among his, or her, miscellaneous offices, the Kuhina- 
nui had charge of the great seal of the kingdom the 
royal standard, and the national flag. Also, in caie of 
the Kings death or minority, this soHd shadow had to 
perform all duties, and exercise all powers ordinarily 
vested in the Kmg. Such were some of the features of 
the constitution which existed till August ] 864 

Kamehameha V. came to the thr'one,' as we have 
related m November, 1863, and commenced the exer- 
cise of his functions, but without taking the oath pre- 
scribed by, and in favour of, his then constituL. 
Mr Wylhecontmued minister of foreign affairs; Mr. 
C. (Tordon Hopkins, whose devotion to the Hawaiian 
nation was undoubted, received the portfoKo of interior ; 
M. De Varigny, formerly vice-consul for France, had 
charge of the finances; and his attorney-general was 
MI. O. 0. flams, an American, who, like others of his 
na ion on the bench and at the bar, was loyal, clear- 
sighted, and had definite views of government. It was 
not a bad team for the first stage out of town, and the 
starfc was promising. 

The King had determined not to take the oath. 
I-rom after occurrences, it is to be inferred that there 
were differences of opinion in the cabinet on this sub- 
ject. The attorney-general, and the minister of foreiffn 
relations, however, appear to have been consistent in 
their support of the King's view, and a convention was 
resolved on to amend the constitution. 

The word convention has to English ears an un- 
canny ring. It reminds them of Paris in 1792, and of 
England in 1848. Four of the five points in the charter 



482 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

tlien clamoured for here, already existed in the Hawaiian 
constitution; \iz. the ballot, universal suffrage, non- 
property qualification, and paid representatives. Annual 
parliaments were excluded because it was more con- 
venient to members to assemble biennially. Now 
Kamehameha V. wished to get rid, by means of a 
national vote, of universal suffrage, and to replace it by 
a qualification based on income and property, united 
to a certain advance in mental acquirements and moral 

fitness. 

The reason why a convention was necessary to the 
King's purpose was this— that though the constitution 
contained power for the legislature to amend it, the 
consent of two biennial parliaments was necessary to 
effect any reform. Such a delay was a strain on the 
Kino-'s patience, and he remembered that he had not 
yet 1:aken what may be called the coronation oath. 
But the decisions of a specially convened body might 
be followed immediately by a session of parliament, 
and thus the reconstruction of the State might be com- 
pleted within three or four months. This was the 
motive which decided the King's actions. A convention 
was accordingly summoned by proclamation—political 
feeling instantly responding throughout the islands. 
The prime objects of the King and his advisers were 
known, or felt to be, to destroy the radical element in 
the constitution, to base electoTal privilege on a property 
qualification, and to give a larger place in the State to 
the King, allowing him to govern as well as reign. The 
native long acccustomed to the feudal yoke, felt no 
aversion to this design; but it alarmed the minds of 
many settled foreigners -the American missionaries 
(but not all) being especially roused at the prospect of 
absolutism and aristocracy, Puseyism and Popery. 



COMPOSITION OF THE CONVENTIOX. 



483 



Tliey raised an outcry in their districts, and led the 
people to think it their duty to send, not representatives, 
but delegates to the convention. 

The King in the meantime was not idle. He made 
a progress through his dominions, attended by his faith- 
ful foreign-office minister. They delivered speeches- 
some judicious, some inopportune-and on the 7th of 
July, 1864, the convention was opened by the King- 
who, before proceeding to the court-house, attended 
service at the Episcopal church. 

The business of the session began the following day 
the three estates sitting in the same chamber The 
composition of the convention was as follows :-First 
the King-president. Second, nobles, sixteen in num- 
ber, headed by the Kuhina-nui : of the remaining fifteen 
nobles eleven were natives, two Britons, and two Ameri- 
cans Third, delegates, twenty-seven in number; the 
white skins and native blood being about equally 
dmded. Judge Robertson was appointed vice-presi- 
dent; and M. de Varigny and the Attorney-General 
though neither nobles nor representatives, attended, like 
the trench Minister without portfolio, to assist in the 
debates. The House appointed Mr. Judd to be secre- 
tary; Mr. Judd named a native chaplain, and Anglo- 
Saxons for interpreter, reporter, and serjeant-at-arms. 

Ut the nobles, as might be expected, the very large 
majority seconded the King's views. One of this estate 
however, possessed of the short but emphatic name of 
Ii, who had been one of the three commissioners engaoed 
to construct the constitution of 1852, was less tractable 
and more democratic than his peers. He was also 
more talkative ; and both from the frequency of his 
being on his legs, and from the two conspicuous vowels 
which composed his name, he quite fulfilled the clever 



II 2 



484 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

definition of egotism, viz. letting tlie private I be too 
much in the public eye. 

The King, in his opening address, pronounced with 
great facility in English and in his native tongue, 
briefly informed the convention of the objects for which 
he had summoned them ; and in all subsequent speeches 
he used the bi-lingual method. The reports published 
under the name of The Convention are printed in 
parallel columns of the two languages. 

' History repeats itself.' The very question which so 
long agitated the assembled States-G-eneral in 1789, 
whether the three orders should sit in one or in sepa- 
rate chambers, excited in Honolulu long and obstinate 
discussion. It was nearly a week before the question 
was settled. The conclusion arrived at was that the 
three estates should sit and debate in one chamber. 
After which the rules were debated and carried ; that 
relating to voting being that there should be united 
voting "on the rules or by-laws, but constitutional sub- 
jects "should be introduced by the representatives and 
put to the vote among themselves. If a resolution 
failed there in consequence of a minority, its quietus 
was made. If it passed the lower house, the votes of ' 
the nobles were taken on it; and after a majority of 
that estate, it was submitted to the King for his approval 

or veto. 

Comparing these proceedings with those of the States- 
General in Paris, we see that whereas the Tiers Etat 
demanded that their ' brothers the nobles ' should sit 
and vote in one, and that the People's Chamber, the 
wish of the Hawaiian representatives was rather to vote 
apart. Five weeks were required for the popular 
victory at the Luxembourg ; nearly a week was occu- 
pied in Honolulu. 



THE BALLOT-EUCKET. 485 

The rules established for discussion were good, and 
there was considerable ability shown in the management 
of the debates. The weakest part of the proceedings of 
this convention was, that when a question had been 
apparently definitively settled and a resolution passed 
one day, it was occasionally re-opened the next, under 
the form of a new resolution. 

The business of the convention advanced rather 
slowly. Determined opposition to the King's design 
soon showed itself among the representatives ; and a 
junto of some five or six members of the extreme left 
made a stand-up fight. One of the nobles, a cabinet 
mmister also, whose views were opposed to the meetincr 
of the Assembly, absented himself on the plea of illness'', 
and retired to his own estate, nor returned till near the 
close, and that under pressing soUcitation. The de- 
termined knot of root-and-branch men just mentioned 
consisted chiefly of Dr. Judd, ex-missionary, ex-minister, 
and ex-United-States-man ; his son, the secretary; a 
rural missionary ; a native lawyer ; and a Scandinavian 
resident, named Knudsen. Among the constitutional 
weapons which the Opposition armed themselves with, 
sarcasm was not wanting; and a subject for their irony 
was easily discovered. It happened that in some out- 
lymg district the ballot-papers of the electors were 
collected in a bucket; and so greatly was this joke or 
this grievance worked, and so often was the pail returned 
to, that the convention was in considerable danger of 
being wrecked on that very small rock. 

After three weeks of discussion, pauses, wrangling 
and voting, the King himself withdrew for a time, from' 
the real or assumed cause of indisposition. His 
Majesty's place was supplied in the interim by Judge 
Robertson and M. De Varigny. At last, came the great 



486 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

questions of uaiversal suffrage, and property qualifica- 
tions in voters and representatives. The abolition of 
the Kuhina-nui had been easily managed. There was 
hard hitting about the suffrage. Yet the American 
party blundered when Mr. Knudsen drew a lamentable 
picture of the English people — poor, oppressed, starved, 
ignorant, and irreligious, all owing to the want of man- 
hood-suffrage. His statements were derived from 
' Mr. Joseph Kay, appointed by the University of Oxford 
to investigate the condition of the lower classes.' The 
reply came swiftly and hard from a chief, the Hon. 
D. Kalakana, a native who had never left the confines 
of home. He said, ' Mr. Knudsen had been very ready 
to give them instances of English poverty, which that 
gentleman considered arose from the fact of the people 
not having universal suffrage; but he forgot to say 
anything of the state of things in America, where uni- 
versal suffrage did exist, and which was one cause of 
the present war. The statement of Mr. Knudsen re- 
ferred to the social condition of England in 1851, but, 
had he been there in 1861, he would have found a very 
different state of things existing; for, within those 
years, great improvements have been made with regard 
to the poor-law and condition of the lower classes, 
though, no doubt, a portion of the manufacturing dis- 
tricts of England were now suffering in consequence of 
the American war. Mr. Knudsen also stated that 
purity of election existed in the United States, where 
the ballot system prevailed ; but, according to reports 
of American papers, it seems as if there was not much 
purity of election existing from the ballot; but the 
reverse. This had been confirmed to him by a natural- 
ized American gentleman, who was well known in 
California, who had told him (Mr. Kalakana) that " if 



UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE — PRO AND CON. 487 

you wanted a man's vote in New York, just show him 
a revolver or a bowie-knife." In California, the result 
of universal suffrage was the establishment of a vigi- 
lance committee to preserve law and order.' 

It is curious to see political events and persons trans- 
mitted through different media, or rejflected back from 
a distance. Mr. Gladstone would probably find some 
amusement in seeing his views of the extension of the 
suffrage reviewed in the legislative assembly of the 
Sandwich Islands — which was done. 
^ In the long and serious discussion on property and 
income qualification, dollars were pitted against educa- 
tion, and the natural right of all men to drop papers 
into ballot-boxes was sustained against both with the 
vigour of despair. It was Carlyle's ' Gigability ' against 
the voting instinct of the natural man. Mr. Hitchcock 
led the van. ' Neither dollars nor want of dollars was 
the criterion of respectability.' Mr. Green, a mission- 
ary, followed on the same side, and presented the sad 
picture of a notorious thief being elected as a repre- 
sentative, and elections being decided by the constable 
of the district. These were the certain consequences of 
a legislation of voters. He held the right of universal 
suffrage as one of the greatest and dearest rights of a 
free people. 

M. De Varigny, on the part of the King, inquired 
whether it were right to give a candle to a blind man 
to carry in a powder-magazine, or a vote to a man who 
could neither read nor write. Would representatives 
place an open razor in the hands of a baby, or the 
franchise in the hands of those totally incompetent to 
use it properly, or unable to read the name written or 
printed on a ballot ? 

On the 9th of August, the King was able to return 



488 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. - 

to his place at the convention, and he listened to the 
debate on this main question with considerable patience. 
Intermixed with some other subjects — as for instance, 
the kingly dignity, the King qua King, opposed to 
* chief magistrate' — the qualification discussion con- 
tinued till the abrupt termination of the convention 
four days later ; producing some excellent debate, and 
showing that the spirit of statesmanship was not want- 
ing in that assembly. The most remarkable of the 
speeches were those delivered by two native representa- 
tives named Kahaleahu and Kaawahi. These addresses 
exhibit the powers and characteristics of the Polynesian 
mind in a very favourable light. 

^May it please your Majesty, the nobles, and the 
delegates,' commenced Kahaleahu, 'a great deal has 
been said on both sides during this discussion, and 
much ability displayed both on the part of the ministry 
and that of the opponents among the delegates. The 
question for the convention to decide is, as to the ex- 
pediency of allowing the very poor among the people 
the privilege of voting for representatives. ... It 
is objected to this provision, that it is taking away the 
right of the people. The right of the people, without 
regard to property qualification, is protection for each 
in his person and the products of his industry. These 
are amply provided for under the laws, and therefore it 
is erroneous to say that any right of the people is taken 
away by the 62nd article.' 

Mr. Kaawahi said, speaking of the disputed 62nd 
article, ' If I believed that it really was taking away a 
right from the people, I would very quickly support the 
motion to reject this article. . . . What were the 
motives of his Majesty in placing this article before 
us ? Did he thereby intend to take away one of the 



A NATIYE POLITICIAN. 439 

rights of the people ? I do not think so. His Majesty 
is of the same race with his people ; he is their sire ; 
and whatever he sees is for their good, that he pro- 
poses, and whatever is detrimental to them that he 
withholds. Believing this, I decidedly object to the 
offensive language used before his Majesty about his 
taking away the people's rights. Neither the King nor 
his ministers have ever done, or attempted to do, any- 
thing of the sort. ... I would ask the delegates 
to remember the words of the delegate for Makawoa 
yesterday, when he said the people of his district could 
take care of themselves, without any assistance from 
the ministry. Who and what are the ministry ? Are 
they not the hands by which the King carries on the 
government ? Are they not the servants of the people 
— of those of Makawoa as well as other places ? . . . 
The delegate for Kaanapali says there are a great many 
impoverished people in his district. I am well aware 
of it, and also that they are a hard-working people, 
and able to earn a great deal more than the amount 
proposed in this article, and that there is plenty of em- 
ployment to be had in the district. The delegate from 
Kaanapali says they have bought land from the Hon. 
Mr. Bishop. Well, there is plenty of fire-wood on that 
land, and the Lahaina sugar-mill wants it, but they 
don't bring sufficient. Then they have large plains on 
which to raise stock. Altogether, I cannot admit that 
they have any right to be impoverished ; and if they 
are, it is certainly their own fault. Let them not object 
to a law which is for the benefit of the whole country 
from one end to the other. It is not a reasonable argu- 
ment to put forward about the poverty of the people, 
preventing them from obtaining the privilege of voting' 
when we consider our position. Here we are pleasantly 



490 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

situated as to climate; we can plough and plant and 
reap at any and all seasons of the year, without any 
winter or dry season to interfere with our labours. 
Employment is to be had in abundance, throughout 
the land, on the various sugar plantations, and labour is 
in demand. There is no lack of a market for our pro- 
duce, for we are on the high way of commerce. The 
seas are open and free to the fisherman, the forests are 
waiting for the woodman's axe, and there are a hundred 
different branches of industry in every direction, open 
and waiting for the hands to improve them. W hy, then, 
is this cry oi 'poverty raised as an argument for striking 
out the property qualification, and permitting the idle 
to indulge in their dreams ? If the people are made to 
understand and appreciate the great privilege of the 
ballot, it will be an incentive to industry, in order to 
choose whomsoever they may desire to represent them 
in the legislature.' But his Majesty's Opposition was 
not to be moved. 

On the 13th of August, the King's patience had 
broken down. ' This is the fifth day of the discussion 
of this article,' said his Majesty. ' I am very sorry that 
we do not agree on this important point. It is clear 
to me that if universal suffrage is permitted, this 
government will soon lose its monarchical character. 
Thank you, delegates and nobles, for the readiness with 
which you have come to this convention, in accordance 
with my proclamation. As we do not agree, it is use- 
less to prolong the session. And as at the time his 
Majesty Kamehameha III. gave the constitution of the 
year 1852, he reserved to himself the power of taking 
it away, if it was not for the interest of his government 
and people ; and as it is clear to me that that king left 
the revision of the constitution to my predecessor and 



THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 491 

myself; therefore, as I sit in his seat, on the part of the 
sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands, I make known 
to-day that the constitution of 1852 is abrogated. I 
will give you a constitution.' His Majesty requested 
ministers to remain at present in their respective posi- 
tions, in order to avoid confusion and disturbance, and 
he then dissolved the convention. 

It was, perhaps, time for the incubation to be over. 
The convention had been sitting five weeks with no 
profitable result. The obstinacy of the Opposition had 
defeated itself. 

On the 20th of August, a week after the breaking up 
of the convention, the promised new constitution ap- 
peared. It omits the obnoxious axiom about ' free and 
equal,' abolishes the office of ' Kuhina-nui,' gives the 
King a larger place in the State, makes cabinet minis- 
ters more responsible, excludes the ballot, prescribes as 
the minimum qualification of a representative real estate 
of five-hundred dollars' value, and annual income of two 
hundred and fifty dollars ; and of an elector, property 
of one hundred and fifty dollars, or twenty-five dollars 
a year rent on leasehold property, and seventy-five 
doUars yearly income, together with certain intellectual 
acquirements. It includes a stringent article on royal 
marriages, and on the succesion to the Crown ; and, the 
King being unmarried, it provides for a new stiiys for 
a royal family, should the present race become extinct. 
Under the new constitution affairs have been working 
well. The prosperity of the islands has healthily in- 
creased. The public revenue is certainly not large : it 
is principally derived from duties on imports, added to 
some excise imports, poll tax, and a few other internal 
sources. The Custom's receipts for the year 1864 were 
as follows : — 



492 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



Honolulu, viz: — 

Import duties — Goods 
„ Spirits 
„ „ Bonded Goods 

Blanks . . . • 
Fees . . . • • 
Storage 

Hospital Fund (Passengers) 
Marine Hospital Fund (Seamen 
Buoys 

Coasting Licenses 
Passports . 
Interest 
Wharfage . 
Fines and Forfeitures 
Registry 
Samples 
Suspense 

Laliaina 
Hilo . 
Kawaihae 
Kealakekua . 

Koloa 

Total 



Total 



95,706 
29,368 
6,416 
4,410 
1,614 
1,888 
1,432 
1,104 
512 
1,535 
219 
508 
11,222 
608 
795 
7 
10 



c. 

01 

16 

36 

50 

75 

66 

00 

87 

00 

72 

00 

05 

91 

74 

00 

00 

00 



157,359 


73 


239 


96 


1,348 


56 


95 


47 


5 


00 


68 


00 



159,116 72 



And a comparison of wants supplied, and of internal 
productivity, shows 



Value of Foreign Goods exported 
„ Domestic „ „ 

furnished as supplies 

Total 



>> 



)i 



548,852 
970,228 
143,100 



c. 

66 

81 

00 



1,662,181 47 



The government has made, and is making, humane 
endeavours for the physical health and well-being of 
the people. In the face of a protraced and almost bitter 
opposition from well-meaning but mistaken persons, 
a measure was carried in legislature, under the succinct 
title of ' A Bill to Mitigate, &c.,' to check and abate the 
terrible ravages consequent on prostitution and licen- 
tiousness. Seeing by the example of Europe and 



LEPROSY. 493 

America that no penal enactments will abolish sin, they 
did see that by police regulations some of the misery, 
disease, and death which it inflicts may be avoided and 
controlled. Curative measures were also taken, and, a 
ward of the Queen's Hospital was appropriated for 
patients suffering from the consequences alluded to; 
but this arrangement was not effected without an oppo- 
sition as violent and abusive, as that which, impeded 
the ' Bill to Mitigate.' Thus does bigotry with closed 
eyes, and the sword of its zeal, cry havoc, and cuts 
down as an enemy the messenger of peace. 

A disease presenting several of the signs of le^ra 
having latterly made its appearance in the islands, a 
careful observation of symptoms has been instituted, 
and Dr. Hillebrand, who has been despatched to China' 
who after an autopsy of cases in the three leper villages 
near Canton, and elsewhere, has written a valuable 
memoir on the Chinese leprosy. It is to be feared that 
little doubt remains that the same scourge, possibly 
modified, exists in Hawaii, especially as many Chinese 
are settled there. Already the government has estab- 
lished an hospital for patients, supposed to be so suffer- 
ing, four miles from Honolulu, and has arranged that 
all cases in an advanced stage of disease shall be re- 
moved to a settlement on the island of Molokai, at a 
greater distance from the community. 

The progress of sugar-making and other branches of 
internal production demanding more labour than the 
islands can at present supply, the importation of coolies 
from China was determined on. Dr. Hillebrand was 
commissioned to proceed thither and superintend the 
emigration of a sufficient number of willing labourers. 
Two vessels freighted with coolies have already arrived, 
bringing about five hundred labourers. Every provision 



494 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

for their physical and moral welfare on their passage 
was made, and a considerable number of females — 
twenty-five per cent. — were included. The labourers 
arrived in good health and condition. It happens that 
the Sandwich Islands are one of the few places to which 
the Chinese do not object to emigrate. They know 
them as the Tang-heang-shan, — the sandal-wood islands, 
or ' isles of the fragrant wood.' They think of them as 
being near China, and on the road to Kin-shan (Cali- 
fornia); and they know that their countrymen who 
have settled in them are well off. It is, however, greatly 
to be regretted that the Hawaiians themselves cannot be 
made more available in agriculture, to the exclusion of 
immigrants. 

The 'Hawaiian G-azette,' which has already been 
spoken of as the government organ, is an able and 
excellently conducted newspaper. Of a series of en- 
lightened articles which have already appeared in its 
columns, may be mentioned those on native industry, 
cotton, pearl-fishing, the beche-de-mer, sugar-planting, 
draining, leprosy, the vine, coffee, coolie labour, cochi- 
neal, and phosphate fertilizers. 

From the late Sir William Hooker at Kew, from 
China, and other places, the Agricultural Society of 
Hawaii has received new plants, seeds, birds, and ani- 
mals, with a view to their acclimatization. ' Le Pro- 
gres de VOceanie,' which is the name of one of the 
lodges of Freemasons in the islands, seems at present 
to find its counterpart in fact. 

There is little more to add. The flowing tide of 
time still casts some fresh events or facts to our feet, 
which we will continue to gather into our wallet ; and 
possibly at some future day we may sit on the higher 
shore, and sort what we have collected, and make them 



VISIT OF QUEEN EMMA TO EUROPE. 495 

ready for the inspection of others. In May, 1865, the 
Queen Dowager of Hawaii left Honolulu for Europe, in 
H.M.S. ' Clio,' which conveyed her to Panama; and on 
the 16th of July she set foot on English ground at South- 
ampton, receiving salutes from the ships and forts. 

It had been a cherished plan of the Queen and her 
late husband to visit Europe together ; a pleasant dream 
which was not to be so realized. Several considerations 
weighed with Queen Emma, inducing her still, though 
now alone, to make the journey. The cordial reception 
which awaited her she could not with certainty have 
foreseen, and it must have afforded her extreme gratifi- 
cation. Those whom kindness and curiosity immedi- 
ately drew about her modest majesty saw in her a 
presentation of royalty already familiar to them, and in 
which they had been trained to sympathise ; they saw 
a widowed lady, of gentle and dignified manner, assum- 
ing nothing to herself, struggling with a heart sorrow 
as deep as it is constant ; well-read in our history and 
literature ; looking with eyes full of interest, though 
often clouded with tears, at sights and scenes well- 
known to her by report and description ; realising her 
previously formed conceptions, and comparing them 
with their realisation; much enjoying, yet feeling, 
wherever she goes, 

' That there hath passed away a glory from the earth.' 

In the excitement and fatigue of almost constant 
travel, and change of scene and persons, which she went 
through for some months in England, so different from 
the more even tenour of life in her native land, the 
Queen was aided by good health, a light burthen of 
years— for she was under thirty— the pleasurable stimu- 
lus of variety and novelty, and the tender consideration 



496 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

of those among whom she went. She was also upheld 
by a steadfast, earnest piety, which, lifting her above the 
earth, made its roughnesses and labour less perceptible. 
So that whilst she knows that nothing can give back 
the past, which has been 

' For ever taken from her sight/ 

she has found that she can 

* rather find 
Strength in what remains behind ; 
In the primal sympathy 
Which, having been, must ever be : 
In the soothing thoughts that spring 
Out of human suffering ; 
In the faith that looks through death.' 



497 



CHAPTER XXX. 

EGBERT CRICHTON WYLLIE. 

"V^O account of the Hawaiian kingdom could now be 
ll considered complete without a notice of the life 
and services of the statesman whose name stands at the 
head of this chapter. The telegram which brought the 
news of his death on the 19th of October 1865, made it 
possible to speak in the present history of the powers 
and character of a man whose devotion to the land of 
his adoption was as remarkable as it was disinterested. 
During his lifetime, references to his labours or to his 
idiosyncrasies would have seemed the language of 
flattery or of unfriendly criticism ; but now it is the 
decent act of his survivors to linger a short space beside 
his grave, to recount his somewhat eventful career, and 
to trace in bas-relief upon the marble of his tomb a 
sketch of the man. 

Robert Crichton Wyllie, who for several years before 
his death occupied the post of Minister of Foreign 
Relations, or as we should say, Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs, was born at Hazelbank in the parish of Dunlop, 
Ayrshire, in the year 1798. Without claiming to be- 
long to the family of ' Sir Matthew Wyllie of that ilk,' 
he came of respectable parentage, and his father appears 



498 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

to have been possessed of the lands of Hazelbank. His 
mother, from whom he derived his second Christian 
name, could trace her descent from the Admirable 
Crichton. Like many others of his nation, Mr. Wyllie 
did not go back to his country to settle there, but loved 
it dearly — perhaps even more dearly — at a distance. 
He carried on his mental associations with the place of 
his birth to the end ; magnifying its importance a little, 
perhaps, through the fairy lens of time and separation. 
By the pre-decease of an elder brother he inherited the 
homestead where he was born, an estate of a few acres, 
which the proprietors around him would have designated 
'just a house and kale-yard.' But the little property 
was dear in the eyes of a stranger in a strange land ; 
and in writing to the author, in 1860, of his naturaliza- 
tion in Hawaii, he says, ' I have always carefully pre- 
served my native allegiance as the very humble " Bonnet 
Laird " of Hazelbank, Ayrshire.' 

. It is an honourable incident in his history, that on 
revisiting his native land after his first long absence in 
South America, during which period of fourteen years 
he had prospered in worldly wealth, he built a comfort- 
able house at Hazelbank, — not for himself, for he never 
inhabited it after his parents' death, but as a dwelling 
for his father and mother. Mr. Wyllie completed his 
education at the college in Glasgow by qualifying him- 
self for the surgical profession, and he received a 
diploma before he had attained the age of twenty. He 
made one or more voyages to the North Sea as surgeon ; 
met with all the hardships of that stormy navigation, 
and was wrecked three times. At some period of his 
early life he proceeded to our Australian colonies, and 
applied himself for a time to sheep-farming. Some- 
what later, he visited the Southern States of America ; 



LIFE IN CHILI. 499 

and, next, found his way to Chili, and became a partner 
in a successful firm at Valparaiso, known as Begg, 
WylHe, and Company. His life in Chili was active and 
adventurous. He rode about the wild territories of 
that young republic with loaded pistols at his girdle 
coUecting the silver dollars due to his house of business. 
Whilst there, he acquired a perfect familiarity with the 
Spanish language, which he spoke and wrote mth the 
fluency of a native of Spain. ' 

He also allowed his surgical and medical knowledge 
to be made available, and attended the inmates of 
several of the convents and nunneries. From these he 
would receive no fees ; and the form which their grati- 
tude took was at once elegant and costly. The religious 
houses presented to him, on three or four occasions, 
small trees, from the branches of which hung gold and 
silver coins, ornaments and valuable trifles. He pre- 
served these graceful memorials untouched; and used, 
when afterwards residing in London, to display them 
on his dinner table with satisfaction and pardonable 
pride. In Valparaiso Mr. Wyllie accumulated in a 
comparatively short time a fortune which even in these 
advanced days would be called considerable. In 1824, 
the daring of. the man in his early life is exhibited by a 
voyage which he made across the vast ocean from 
Mexico to India, in a small vessel of fifty tons burthen 
- scarcely more than a boat in size- and. uncoppered; 
visiting on his way the islands of the South Pacific. In 
a letter written in the year 1860, Mr. Wyllie refers to 
this voyage, and mentions the little craft as his ' Yacht 
Daule.' We next meet with him in Mazatlan. With 
the same love of adventure wihch so greatly addicted 
him to roving about the world, he took charge of a 
cargo of cattle and sheep for India. This voyage led 

E & 2 



500. HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

to a new phase in his career, by introducing him to a 
gentleman whose brother was engaged in mercantile 
business in London and Calcutta. As a result of this 
meeting, Wyllie proceeded to England and joined the 
house spoken of, the title of which thence became 
Lyall, Wyllie, and Company. During the time this 
partnership subsisted, Mr. Wyllie occupied a house in 
May fair jointly with a friend, to whom I am indebted 
for several of the particulars here given. He became 
an early member of the Keform Club, and was well 
known there. Some who read these pages may still 
remember him, a well-dressing man, of animated but 
rather tedious conversation, and possessed of a re- 
markably retentive memory. 

Wyllie had once or twice in life made some heavy 
pecuniary losses ; and after about four years of London 
routine, dinner-parties, and Eeformism, the bachelor 
friends broke up their joint establishment, and * parted 
like two rivers ; ' one to Italy, ' where silvery Padus 
gleams;' the other, the subject of this memoir, to 
America ; being drawn thither with the view of saving 
or gaining back part of his funds, and acting for the 
interest of others, bond-holders of some of the repudi- 
ating States. 

To walk down one street instead of another may 
change, as some one has remarked, the whole course of 
our life : for by so doing we may meet or miss a person 
who can influence our future. This happened to Wjdlie. 
In America he fell in with General Miller, whom be 
had known before at Valparaiso, and whose career in 
the Chilian war of independence had been brilliant and 
remarkable. By Miller, who had been appointed Consul- 
Greneral in the Hawaiian Islands for Grreat Britain, he 
was persuaded to accompany him thither, and he arrived 



AN ALL- SIDED MAX. 501 

at Honolulu in March 1844. It was not long before 
his business talent was called into use. General Miller 
having to leave the islands for the purpose of visiting 
Tahiti, Mr. Wyllie was appointed acting English Consul, 
in which capacity he continued about a year. On 
Miller's return to his post, Wyllie was invited to enter 
the service of King Kamehameha III. The portfolio 
of Foreign Affairs was entrusted to him on the 24th of 
March 1845, and he continued to act as Foreign 
Minister till his death in October 1865. 

And now commenced the real work of his energetic 
life. He cast himself entirely into the part he had 
accepted, and left no labour unapplied, no means unused 
to consolidate the dynasty of Kamehameha, to establish 
the independence and security of the island kingdom, 
to advance the country of his adoption in material 
prosperity, in social advance,, and in the standing it was 
to take among the family of nations. His industry was 
prodigious ; his foreign correspondence voluminous ; 
his mind was omnivorous. A contributor to the ' Ha- 
waiian Gazette ' thus writes of him, at the commence- 
ment of his career in the islands: ^His activity and 
deep interest in Hawaii Nei is fully shown in his notes 
published in the " Friend," during the very year of his 
arrival (1844) ; in which he treats of almost every sub- 
ject of value and interest to the country, from the 
premiership to the cultivation of the taro plant. His 
remarks, addressed a generation ago^ may seem crude 
and sometimes odd to us ; but we affirm that they con- 
tain germs of good, by no means developed even in the 
year of grace 1865. His ideas of a parochial clergy 
may be deemed higlily inappropriate, but his hints as 
to the establishment of schools of art at the capital are 
well urged. It is true that he refers here to the 



502 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

mechanical arts, but manufactures necessarily entail 
the fine arts of design; and the fine arts are a real 
element of true civilization, however much the ignorant 
may presumptuously despise them. In treating of so 
stern a subject as political economy, it is rather amusing 
to find a " Note on Society " and on " Foreign Ladies " 
all jumbled between the " Whale Fishery," «'Oath of 
Allegiance," and '' Small-Pox ; " and his remarks on their 
" personal charms " are as gallant as they are, no doubt, 
exact. Another note, on " Native Houses," has never 
received the attention which the subject demands at 
the hands of the interested.' 

In fact, Mr. Wyllie's mind was eminently discursive, 
but his purpose was settled and definite. Like the 
needle of the compass, trembling yet constant, some 
minds make nutations to passing ideas, and are not 
inattentive to the minor subjects which approach them 
sideways, but claim them for incidents and affluents 
to the stream of their design; yet in the somewhat 
wider path they pursue, they keep, after all, the mean 
line of their true direction, 

Mr. Wyllie's high endeavour, that from which he 
never swerved, but devoted his energies till his dying 
day, was the independence and advance of the Hawaiian 
nation. He saw beneath the rust and stain of igno- 
rance and supineness of the native race the true metal. 
He saw there was good material, if he could save it. 
He also saw the great importance of the position of the 
islands geographically, and how necessary it is that 
they should not fall into the possession of any one great 
maritime power. Their central position to the coasts 
of so many vast countries made it apparent that their 
office was to be cosmopolitan : and to make them so, 
their independence, guaranteed by all the great nations. 



SCRIBENDI CACOETHES. 503 

was the object earnestly to be sought. His dream was 
of a joint treaty to be signed in good faith by the 
civilized governments of Europe and America. Did 
his dream embrace the condition that a treaty should 
never be torn ? 

To carry out his object, he established or increased 
diplomatic correspondence with all countries. Boxes 
of papers in my own archives witness his industry. In 
four years his letters to Sir John Bo wring, principally 
concerning the treaty question, filled five large volumes. 
His handwriting being nearly illegible, made his letters 
seem longer than they were ; and his secretary was kept 
writing day and night, and the utmost order was ob- 
served in his correspondence. When not otherwise 
occupied he would set the printing-press at work, and 
distribute to different countries masses of state docu- 
ments, commencing twenty years before. He nearly 
ruined some of the smaller monarchies in postage, for 
all these volleys of papers were charged the full rate as 
letters. The expenses of printing so crippled the 
treasury of his own government, that restricted grants 
to the foreign department compelled Mr, Wyllie, much 
to his chagrin, to give up printing documents. 

In all his efforts to secure Hawaii from foreign ' pro- 
tection ' or ^ annexation,' Mr. Wyllie entertained no 
m^dere pensee in favour of the country his own predi- 
lections might naturally have chosen to see the possessor 
of this * pivot group.' England was to lead the way in 
the treaty of guaranteed independence. Nor did he 
neglect countries because weak or inland. Italy was 
appealed to two years ago ; and even Switzerland was 
not neglected. Should the Swiss ever send a fleet into 
the Pacific, it will be as kindly entertained as the 
Russian fleet was when at Honolulu, 



604 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

He, indeed, brought to his task working powers of 
no ordinary capacity, and a memory tenacious in the 
extreme for facts and dates — at least for those in which 
he had himself been in some way concerned. Most 
persons have occasionally met, in public or in private, 
with such memories ; have wondered at them, and set 
them down as a nuisance. In Mr. Wyllie's speeches, 
and in his correspondence, he would refer to words 
which had been written or uttered twenty years before ; 
would send his hearer or his correspondent to back 
nyimbers of extinct periodicals, or to despatches long 
since buried, too deep for resurrection, in boxes of 
archives. If, like Mr. Carlyle or some French writers, 
we were to summarize the whole man in an epithet, we 
should name Mr. Wyllie ' Ad Eeferendum.' This ten- 
dency to discursiveness and parenthesis made its posses- 
sor a bad debater. It exhausted the patience of his 
auditors ; and it is noticeable, in reading the prolonged 
discussions which took place in the convention of 1864, 
that Mr. Wyllie was frequently called to ' Question,' 
and on more than one occasion sat down without finish- 
ing his speech. This was an imperfection: and yet, 
who can say that it was a material one in a nascent 
community where people were feeling their way as 
best they might to enlightened institutions ? And above 
the slight obscurities which surrounded the base, the 
strength and purpose of the man rose high and clear. 
His desire was to conciliate the world : and he was wise 
in perceiving the danger of a great power making a 
casus belli, and snatching up the islands in a fit of 
anger or of outraged honour ; and also the danger of a 
strife in their immediate neighbourhood, when, like 
the frog in the fable, they would be exposed to being 
trampled to death by one of the belligerent oxen, with- 



HIS GENUINE LOYE OF COUNTRY. 505 

out his even knowing that he had done any mischief. 
Mr. Wyllie was quite in earnest ; and occasionally, when 
money was necessary for carrying out his endeavours, 
and the treasury could not, or would not, immediately 
give him the means, he would make his own private 
resources available to the political object he had in 
hand. Not that he was careless about money ; he was 
rigidly exact in his transactions, and insisted on. others 
* with whom he had dealings being so too : but he knew 
the time to scatter as well as the time to save. He was 
above any tortuous policy. He desired beyond all 
tilings that the Hawaiian islands should be known. 
The publicity of their existence in the world he looked 
upon as essential to their being and their independence ; 
and he wished that they should stand fair and justified 
with their great compeers. As to the nation itself, he 
laboured for its wealth, development, and moral con- 
dition ; for universal justice and for intellectual culture. 
If he did not actually select the motto adopted in the 
national arms, he at least was a thorough believer in 
the sentiment it expresses : — 

UA. MAU KEEA KA AINA KA PONG. 
BY EIGHT THE LIFE OF THE LAND IS PEESEEVED. 

In 1861 Sir John Bowring, who had been previously 
acquainted with Mr. Wyllie, was commissioned by the 
Hawaiian Grovernment as Envoy Extraordinary and 
Minister Plenipotentiary to effect the great scheme of 
a general treaty with Hawaii. I select from a com- 
munication which Sir John has made to me, and in 
which he very highly eulogises the late Hawaiian 
Foreign Minister for his ability, untiring diligence and 
oneness of purpose, the following passage :■ — 



506 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

' Mr. Wyllie did not look as many look to the jealous rival- 
ries of the great powers as a security against the intrusion of 
any one of them upon Hawaiian independence, though to a 
certain extent that security exists, — for it is certain that neither 
Great Britain, the United States, France, nor Russia would 
regard with complacency or indifference the annexation of the 
islands to any but itself, and none of them would probably be 
disposed to encounter the odium and incur the risks which the 
overthrow of a national and popular monarchy, and the usurpa- 
tion of a remote sovereignty would bring with it. 

* It was not however to the fears or rivalries of the influential 
governments of the world that Mr. Wyllie looked for the tran- 
quillity and security of Hawaii — but to the establishment of 
amicable relations with every people, whether mighty or im- 
potent — to a legislation dealing with all alike in a spirit of 
equal commercial liberality — giving special privileges to none, 
but inviting all to trade on equal and easy terms — in a word, 
he would have made the islands a welcoming centre for the 
grand circumference of the Pacific, and have made free in- 
tercourse the foundation of international law. 

*A succession of treaties with the different European and 
American powers were the natural instruments for giving 
effect to this policy, and such treaties exist with the principal 
monarchies and republics of the eastern and the western hemi- 
spheres. They recognise equality of condition as the ground- 
work of mutual obligation. In the solitary case of the treaties 
with France some great privileges were granted to the wines 
and spirits of that country as a compensation for supposed 
claims, but the influence of this preferential legislation has 
failed — as a narrow and selfish policy generally fails — and while 
the trade with the United States, with Great Britain and her 
colonies, has progressed and prospered, that with France is in- 
significant and declining. Hawaiian subjects enjoy in all the 
leading communities of the world the privileges of the citizens 
of the most favoured nations ; and foreigners settled in the Ha- 
waiian islands are bound by the same laws and regulations as 
the natives themselves. In all the later treaties a clause has 



WTLLIE S PASSION FOR WOEK. 007 

been introduced by whicli the contracting powers agree that 
any question which is not amicably settled by diplomatic cor- 
respondence be referred to the arbitration of some friendly 
power. 

' It is to the honour of the late King of the Belgians that he 
expressed a desire that his country should give an example of 
forbearance and humanity by which the arbitration of the 
sword should be superseded by the amicable intervention of a 
pacific tribunal, and it will not be forgotten that on more than 
one occasion some of the greatest powers of the world have 
consented to accept of his decision, and to avoid any appeal to 
arms.' 

Mr. Wyllie's love of work was as remarkable as his 
affection to the country for which he worked. He 
loaded himself with labours; at one time taking on 
himself two other departments of administration in 
addition to his own portfolio, and writing' the reports 
of all three.' Moreover, he engaged at times in com- 
merce, and devoted himself, especially in the latter part 
of his life, to sugar cultivation. He also kept up his 
private correspondence with friends in Europe. The 
present King is probably as hard a worker as his Foreign 
Minister was ; and it is a question whether an enervating 
climate tells most on the energies of a native or a foreign 
resident. A secret about both these laborious persons is 
that both were early risers and both were unmarried, 

Mr. Wyllie's zest for work was a bulimia. It did not 
require the salad of praise or the sauce of poverty. If 
he were at all incited by ' the last infirmity of noble 
minds,' his ambition was not conspicuous as egotism in 
his communications with others. Neither does he seem 
to have been much impelled by the desire of posthu- 
mous fame,* purchased dearly by one man who lives 

* He did not write his own memoirs ; nor was I aware till engaged 
on this slight sketch that he had made any preparations by which others 



508 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

miserably through seventy years, in order that the world 
may be startled a week after his death by hearing that 
he has left half a million of money behind him ; pur- 
chased cheaply by another, who buys an eternify on 
the Table of Benefactors in his parish church, by giving 
the produce of 5L to be distributed ' on Lammas Day, to 
twelve poor widows, for ever.' 

Of all the bubbles which men blow and then pursue, 
posthumous fame is the most hollow. Present fame is 
unsubstantial enough ; ' the breath of the people being 
but air, and that often not whol,esome : ' but the praise 
of which we speak is only the shade of this shade, and 
a sound which can never fall upon the ear of him to 
whom it appertains. Some noble natures, indeed, as 
they steer down life's swift river, blow a blast, which 
the echoing rock on shore — a people's approbation — is 
glad to resound and repeat. But, alas ! so Tapid is the 
current which hurries the hero onward, that he is swept 
past ere the echo he has wakened can reach and stir 
his heart. Yet, knowing this, men go on laboriously 
laying up a treasure which is to be inherited by 

* Death, the skeleton, 
And Time, the shadow : ' 

Oblivion stands by, and smiles at having spared an 
immaterial voice, whilst she hides the substance in an 
unremembered grave. 

Neither did Mr. Wyllie seem affected by desire which 
acts on some of his fellow-countrymen, of returning to 
the land of his nativity and to his ' brither Scots ' in the 

might be enabled to construct a biography. But I now learn with 
pleasure that his papers will be confided to_ the hands of a ladj, a 
countrywoman of our own, to whom our literature is already indebted : 
and in the selection of Miss Eoss as his biographer, Mr. Wyllie has shown 
discrimination and wisdom. 



THE worker's dream of REST. 509 

evening of life, of enlarging his little patrimony and 
living the life of a laird, which he would have been 
able to do with the ample means he had acquired, and 
the name he had justly earned by his talent and energy. 
He does not seem to have formed any such plans. One 
of his last intentions, it is true, before his rather un- 
expected death, was to have visited Europe ; but this 
design appears to have been rather with a view of bene- 
fiting his health, and acting in some political capacities, 
than under the idea of a permanent residence in Scot- 
land. 

Such considerations did not move Wyllie much. He 
had adopted a new and beautiful country, and he clung 
faithfully to the land of his adoption. He had done 
much for its institutions and its people; and doing 
benefits, though it often fails to beget gratitude in the 
objects, generally does breed in the doer the desire to do 
yet more. And he was not the man to turn capriciously 
aside after a new quarry. He laboured because he be- 
lieved it necessary to the State that he should do so. He 
laboured because he loved work, and would have laboured 
on, as numerous official men do, because the office they 
have undertaken lays it daily on them, and they both 
impel the wheel, and are dragged onward by the wheel 
which they impel. They have swum voluntarily to- 
wards a whirlpool, but being there, they are no longer 
masters of themselves, but must swim in the circle 
whether they will or no. Such men find their rest in 
talking of the repose which they hope some day to 
enjoy. So Wyllie spoke and wrote with delight of the 
necessity to himself of leaving office and retiring to 
his Prince ville estate. This property, situated in the 
Hanalei valley on the island of Kauai, the 'Eden of 
the Hawaiian group,' combines in itself almost every 






510 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

conceivable beauty of nature. At Lanibuli, the name 
of the immediate village, he had built a charming house, 
of one storey, a hundred feet long and forty in width, 
with a broad verandah running the entire length. A 
verdant lawn behind lost itself in shrubberies of flower- 
ing plants, above which a row of kukui trees gave their 
shade. Among the blossoms of the underwood mingled 
the rich scarlet berries of the kikania. The slopes of 
the hill on which the house is built, profusely covered 
with the guava, led downwards to a bright rushing 
stream, its banks grown with ferns and other plants, 
which pours its meandering current into a natural bathing 
pool surrounded with embowering thickets, where 
Musidora might have unveiled without a Ijlush, lulled 
by the breeze sporting in the branches overhead, and by 
the plash of the waterfall by which the stream finds its 
exit. About the house a grove of loaded orange trees 
offered itself to all the senses, and the graceful pandanus 
drooped the shelter of its fan-like leaves. In front a 
lawn, more studiously kept, terminated in a terraced 
wall, on which beds of beautiful flowers were planted 
with taste, and, especially after a shower, made the 
whole air balmy with their odour. On one side of his 
dwelling the eye was led through the greenery of the 
valley, and on the other looked on the high bluffs . 
running for miles along the coast and on the fat pas- 
tures at their feet, where hundreds of cattle were grazing ; 
whilst far beyond all, the blue waters of the Pacific and 
the azure sky of the tropics blended into one. Such 
was the paradise which invited Mr. Wyllie : but not this 
even to 'idlesse all;' for his sugar plantations, mills 
and machinery, were at hand, so that even the rest 
which he desired would have been tempered with 



FUNERAL OBSEQUIES. 511 

activity. But he never attained that evening life at 
Princeville, but died in official harness at his villa in 
the Nuuanu valley near Honolulu, which he named 
Eosebank. 

An almost royal funeral was granted by a grateful 
sovereign to his faithful minister. There is not space 
here to describe the service in the English cathedral, 
the mustering of troops, the attendance of the masonic 
bodies, in which Mr. Wyllie had attained high rank, or 
the final procession at night by torch-light, when his 
corpse was carried to its last earthly resting-place in 
the new royal mausoleum. The burial-place of the 
Haw^aiian Kings in the Nuuanu valley having been 
completed, this opportunity was taken for removing 
into it all the coffins containing the remains of the royal 
family. The ' Hawaiian Grazctte ' of the 4th of November 
I860 contains a complete and interesting account of 
this procession, the order of the coffins, and the inscrip- 
tions on them. The earliest in date of the Hawaiian 
chiefs were Liloa and Lonoi Kamakahike, whose bones 
were brought from the secret place in which, according 
to ancient Hawaiian custom, they had been concealed, 
and were placed in one coffin. Liloa was the father 
of the celebrated King Umi, the progenitor of the 
present royal family, who is supposed to have ruled 
about five hundred years ago. 

In jNIr. Wyllie Hawaii has lost a sure and strong 
friend. It is too soon yet to speculate what changes 
may be the consequence of his death. He was the 
Nestor of the Council, the adviser of Kings, an example 
of industry, and a benefactor to the native race. Poor 
Hawaii may perhaps have occasion to say, with the 
Tekoan herdsman, ' By whom shall Jacob arise, for he 



512 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

is small ! ' It is such men as Wyllie to whom King 
and people and foreigners also still must look; and 
whilst their searching eyes glance round the horizon, 
their lips may prayerfully exclaim 

EXOEIAEE ALIQUIS! 



513 



APPENDIX. 



CORAL ISLANDS. 



IT is the general assumption that coral islands are built up 
from the bottom of the ocean by the unaided labour of 
lithophytes. Doubts of this fact have, however, been enter- 
tained and expressed. Captain Wilkes, who commanded the 
United States Exploring Expedition (1838 — 1842), has stated 
his decision, that coral islands cannot possibly be entirely the 
work of zoophytes. He pronounces the labours of these minute 
animalculae inadequate to produce effects so enormous, and 
says that the appearance of the reefs themselves contradicts 
such a presumption; and he adds that Darwin's ingenious 
theory of an equal growth and subsidence of coral taking place 
is at variance alike with the configuration, extent, and general 

construction of the reefs. Darwin argues thus : From the 

limited depth at which reef-building polypifers can flourish, 
one ought to conclude that both in atolls and barrier-reefs the 
foundation to which the coral primarily is attached has sub- 
sided, and that during the gradual depression of the base of the 
coral, reefs have grown upward. He says this will satisfac- 
torily explain their outline, general form, and distribution ; 
that the existence of reefs and islands dispersed in large tracts 
of ocean, which islands and reefs are formed by the growth of 
kinds of coral, the insects of which cannot live at great depths, 
is inexplicable, except on the theory that the base to which the 
reefs are first attached slowly and successively sinks whilst the 
corals grow upwards ; that no positive facts are opposed to this 
view, &c. (' Voyages of the Beagle.') 

If we consider the stupendous workmanship required to 

L L 



514 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

upheave a reef hundreds of miles in length, — and such exist; 
that on the north-east coast of New Holland and New Cale- 
donia extending four hundred miles,— or islands many hundred 
square miles in area, and believe the lithophytes' labour to be 
a sufficient cause, it requires a credulity as to Nature's workings 
such as commonly existed before the time of Bacon, and even that 
of Boyle, but which has since been rebuked by experimental 
philosophy. Soundings made by Beechey, Flinders, and others, 
show that depths of two and three hundred feet of water some- 
times occur near the raised reef, within the enclosure of lagoon- 
islands, whilst outside the depth is often unfathomable. Wilkes 
found no bottom with a line of 150 fathoms (900 feet) at that 
distance from the perpendicular cliffs of Aurora Island ; and 
Dana says that within three-quarters of a mile from the 
southern point of the island of Clermont T(mnere, the lead 
brought up suddenly at 350 fathoms (2,100 feet) and then 
dropped off again and descended to 600 fathoms (3,600 feet) 
without reaching bottom. The lagoons within the circular 
reefs are, however, generally shallow in comparison, and a 
great depth inside is exceptional. 

In the Indian Ocean and Coral Sea still deeper soundings 
have been made than those mentioned. Dr. Maury ('Physical 
Geography of the Sea ') quotes a letter from Mr. Brooke stating 
that the sounding-rod reached bottom in the Indian Ocean with 
• a line of 7,040 fathoms (42,240 feet). It must, however, be 
observed that the length of line does not always express the per- 
pendicular distance, as there is always a driftage of the line, 
sometimes a very great one. Maury mentions a specimen of 
the bed of the Coral Sea brought up with Brooke's sounding- 
lod at a reported depth of 2,150 fathoms,— two miles and a 

half. 

Mr. Cheever, in his volume on Hawaii,* has given an 
interesting chapter on the subject of coral formations. He 
reasons that as some of the reefs, lagoons, and islands of coral 

* 'Life in the Sandwich Islands ; or, the Heart of the Pacific,' &c. 
By the Kev. H. T. Cheever. London, 1851. 



GALYANO-ELECTRIC THEOEY. 515 

rock rise from the sea-bottom at an unfathomable depth, to the 
conditional height required for the lithophytes to work, the 
lower portion or foundation must be produced by diiferent and 
independent causes; and he seeks such agencies in sudden 
submarine galvanic action, sufficient to separate from the water 
of the ocean and deposit ridges and piles composed of lime and 
other substances existing in sea- water in enormous quantities, 
and so universally diffused as to be ever at hand for any pur- 
pose. Giving full weight to the amount of material combined 
with or in solution in the water of the depths of ocean, it is, 
nevertheless, difficult to conceive a single voltaic action (and it 
must be single or the effect would not follow) sufficiently 
strong to raise from the bottom a ridge of separated lime many 
thousand feet in height, and having a base wide enough to 
support such a superstructure. As an auxiliary argument 
Mr. Cheever quotes the opinion of another missionary in the 
South Seas, Mr. Williams, who puts forward a theory that the 
calcareous coverings of marine molluscs are not necessarily 
secreted by the animals themselves, but suggests that they only 
secrete a sort of gluten, to which calcareous particles in the 
water adhere, and form a shell. Mr. Williams had probably 
in his thoughts the common caddis worms found in fresh 
water. Mr. Cheever goes on to say : — ' Let there be a 
chemical precipitation of the minute calcareous particles float- 
ing in sea-water, by any means, and there might be formed a 
reef — agreeably to the experiment in which the passing of a 
stream of electric fluid through water having calcareous and 
siliceous particles in solution produces stone. The lightnin"- 
in tropical regions, and the electric fluid engendered by sub- 
marine and other volcanoes which abound in the South Seas 
may thus produce an effect adequate to the formation of those 
wonderful and invaluable structures. This is a much more 
rational theory to account for the existence of immense coral 
reefs and coral islands in the Pacific than that alluded to above 
which supposes them wholly the work of saxigenous polypes 
or lithophytes.' 

We need not commit ourselves to the lightning theory, or to 

L L 2 



516 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

that which supposes the inorganic matter suspended in sea- 
water to become organic by mere adhesion and agglutination 
to a living animal, to admit readily that the quantity of mate- 
rial suspended in sea-water is sufficient for the production of 
very extensive formations; and that its elimination is very 
rapid. Its lime, magnesia, soda, &c., are diffused so generally 
and so abundantly, that there wants but the creative word and 
the necessary condition, to cause them to pass into our sight as 
organic forms. The growth of shelled animals in tropical seas is 
astonishingly rapid. A friend informs me that, when an officer 
on board one of the East India Company's ships in 1819, on a 
voyage from Singapore to China by the eastern passage, the 
vessel off the south coast of Borneo passed through, during 
cahn weather, continuous tracts of slimy water. Several 
streaks or planks of the ship about the water-line became 
covered with small gelatinous substances,— apparently derived 
from the slimy water. In a short time these substances 
became small shells, of the Lepas or barnacle kind ; and at the 
end of about four weeks the cephalopods had completely coated 
that part of the vessel, from stem to stern. They were of all 
lengths, up to one and a half and two inches ; and it was found 
necessary to take advantage of a calm 'day to lower all the 
boats, and to scrape off these rapidly-increasing obstacles to 
the sailing of the ship. I have myself, quite recently, seen 
brought on shore on the English coast, two pieces of wood, 
each about the size of the two open hands, studded as closely 
with barnacles as the peduncles could be packed, and of greater 
length than those of the Indian Seas just described. ^ 

All this growth proceeded from inorganic material in the 
water selected and transformed into organic matter by a vital 
process, as soon as the necessary opportunity for adhesion pre- 
sented itself. The inference follows, that if the accidental 
passage of a ship afforded the condition sufficient to reveal or 
cause organic life to so large an extent, the amount of possible 
life, even in the one field traversed, that did not receive the 
proper conditions for its developement, must have been enor- 
mous. What, then, must be the entire chemical potentialities 



LAGOON AND CHAIN ISLANDS. 517 

of the ocean for producing solid matter? Otber shelled 
molluscs and infusoria, unlike those described, may not require 
for their production and developement adhesion to fixed or 
floating substances. Their production may go on in the water, 
unaided by such conditions, rapidly and with constancy. Each 
individual in its short existence transforms inorganic matter 
into the beautiful forms of ammonites, navicul^, nummulites, 
&c. ; and after the animal's death, the shell sinks. At a short 
distance below the surface of the sea its waters, free from 
agitating winds and currents, probably remain in stagnant im- 
mobility; and in those depths, during ages untold, the two 
processes of formation of shells and their quiet deposit go on. 
Thus will have been produced the wonderful chalk deposits, 
hundreds of feet in thickness, all parts of which showing, under 
the microscope, that they are mainly composed of entire shells 
or the detritus of shells. In a similar manner the emery stone 
may have been formed from the beautiful siliceous wing-cases 
of diatomacese. 

Several passages in Dr. Maury's valuable contribution to 
science, his 'Physical Geography of the Sea,' are so con- 
firmatory of the preceding remarks, and are in themselves so 
interesting, that I have selected and strung together at the end 
of this chapter some detached portions of his work which bear 
upon the subjects herein treated of. 

It is, in fact, to volcanic action that we must look for the 
production of long ridges and vast circular reefs forming chain 
and lagoon islands rising from the profound depths of the 
ocean. Darwin, whilst he dismisses the volcanic hypothesis, 
says, 'the theory generally received is, that lagoon-islands or 
atolls are based on submarine craters.' * Wilkes remarks that 
all the coral islands lie within an ocean subject to the effects 
of volcanic action ; and his presumption is that many islands 
and groups now separated, were once united in extensive tracts 
of land, and that their alteration and dismemberment have 
been brought about by the same causes that affect other lands, | 

* Voyages of the Beagle. 

t United States Exploring Expedition. 



518 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

The late Admiral Beechey, in his Narrative of a Voyage 
to the Pacific, states that he examined fifty coral islands, and 
that for thirty-two of them he sent plans, soundings, &c., to 
the Admiralty. He is, consequently, entitled to form an 
opinion upon their character and origin. Twenty-nine of 
these thirty-two islands had lagoons in their centres, and the 
rest appeared to have once possessed an internal depression, 
but which had become obliterated by having been filled up 
with coral and such substances as the sea cast upon these low 
islands. He says, ' the general opinion now is that they have 
their foundations upon submarine mountains, or upon extin- 
guished volcanoes, which are not more than four or five hun- 
dred feet immersed in the ocean; and that their shape depends 
upon the figure of the base whence they spring.'* He also 
detected in what were called Chain-islands, consisting of a 
number of islets grouped in a circular or oval form, that the 
visible islets were only the higher portions of a ridge having 
that general shape ; and that the ridge was continuous at forty 
and thirty fathoms below water, and even at less depths. The 
comparatively large group of the Gambler islands, of which a 
careful plan with soundings is given in his volumes, is, in all 
likelihood, the irregular wall of a very large submarine vol- 
cano. The islands which rise in the central space are probably 
cones, which are always thrown up within craters in activity. 
In most, or all cases, a current sets out from the lagoon within 
a coral island through an opening in the wall or ridge ; and 
the hiatus in the reef is nearly always on the windward side. 
Its place is sometimes determined by the course of fresh water, 
when there are springs on these islands, as the lithophytes do 
not work or live within the influence of fresh water. Beneath 
the gaps, as has already been said, at some fathoms depth, the 
ridge even in these places is continuous. 

The circular ridges forming lagoons and chains of islands 
must, then, be regarded as the walls of craters. Above water 
these are illustrated by the rocky ridges of immense diameter 
which surround the craters of Kileaua, and Hale-a-ka-la, 

* Vol. i. p. 261. 




GROWTH OF CORAL. 519 

described in the text of this volume. They represent a 
lagoon-island, only still farther elevated, and discharged of the 
water it enclosed. 

The straight reefs or ridges must be looked upon as having 
been lifted up by linear volcanic action, or ejected from fissures 
formed in the crust of the globe, as the outer strata in cooling 
contracted upon the incompressible core within. The process 
may be seen by allowing a poker to heat to redness in the fire 
and remain long enough for the surface to become well oxi- 
dised. On exposure to the air, the incrustation on the metal 
cools first, and is caused by the hot unelastic iron beneath to 
split with irregular fissures, and 
to fall off. Apply this to the 

earth. Let a and h represent ^^^^^i ^ 

portions of the cool and con- 
tracted crust. Let c be the in- 
ternal fluid mass ; e the fissure 
formed in consequence of the 

crust contracting on the incompressible core. The arch of 
cohesion being broken, one side of the fracture will be free 
to gravitate downwards and fall in, displacing an equivalent 
of fluid matter, which will be ejected in a form the section of 
which is that of an unequal prism, d. Let the fissure take the 
direction north and south, and Andes and Cordilleras are pro- 
duced, with unequal sides, a scalene triangle in section, 
descending rapidly with a short base of detritus into the ocean 
depths on one side; spreading out gradually, or in waves, on 
the other side. Such cosmic agonies are not without visible 
and audible phenomena, tempered according to depth, if below 
water ; agitating the ocean, and throwing huge waves on to 
shores with corresponding retirements, until the disturbance 
has subsided and the equilibrium is regained. Earthquakes 
and waterquakes are also the attendants of these fractures, which 
are now only on a small scale compared with the gigantic 
fissures which formed the continuous range of Andes and Rocky 
Mountains, the spine of North and South America; the Indian 
Qhauts, &c. 



55>0 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

A ridge, wlietlier longitudinal or circular, having been 
uplifted sufficiently near the surface of the sea, offers the 
condition proper for coral formation. It seems necessary that 
the lithophytes be covered generally with water, but the depth 
of water must not be too great. Light appears essential to 
the polyps ; and it is probable that it is the loss of light at 
considerable depths, which limits their workmanship to certain 
distances below water. The rapidity of coral formation is in 
opposite ratio with the depth of water in which it proceeds. 
Thus, in water from three to ten fathoms deep, the coral 
attains its average height, viz. ten to twelve inches, in eight 
years. Ten years are required for an equal growth in fifteen 
fathoms; twenty -five or thirty years where the depth is in- 
creased to 100 fathoms (600 feet) ; whilst at 900 feet, at least 
forty years are occupied in producing the same height of coral. 
it is presumable that below a thousand feet of water the pro- 
duction of coral does not take place. In the Mediterranean 
and Red Seas, coral is never met with in less than about ten 
feet of water, nor at a greater depth than 900 feet; but in the 
Pacific, Mr. Cheever mentions having collected at the island of 
Molokai, Sandwich Islands, fine living specimens from a reef 
which never had more than two feet of water on it, and which 
must sometimes at low water have been laid bare. An even 
temperature of 76 degrees Fahr. seems most congenial to the 
growth of coral. 

The coral stem is very destructible : it is quickly abraded 
by tides and currents, and is found pierced in every part by 
worms. Its attachment at the base is easily overcome. It 
becomes pulverised and mixed with chalk and sand, and with 
other organisms; and in this state it forms the amorphous part 
of the coral rock, and itself the foundation for a fresh growth 
of coral, rising from its surface, each successive growth being 
not more than twelve inches in height. Even the amorphous 
coral rock is based on a deposited substratum of rock less 
organized than itself. ' The more solid and compact texture 
of the rock, often stratified, would also lead one to ascribe it to 
a different origin from the corals, whose exact and beautiful 
cellular structure evinces an animal agency as plainly as the 



GROWTH OF CORAL. 521 

honeycomb of a bee-hive. It is therefore unnecessary to 
suppose the calcareous coral rock either secreted by insects, or 
the exuviae of insects, or the dead bodies of insects themselves; 
but they are simply carbonate of lime precipitated from the 
sea-water which holds its particles in solution, mixed and 
cemented together with broken shells and pieces of coral.' 
Such rocks are the true base of the coral islands, where the 
base is not volcanic or a platform of chalk or inorganic rock 
lifted up above the general sea-bottom. It is one of the most 
established cosmical processes that elevations and depressions 
of the crust of the earth are constantly taking place — some 
rapid, as by volcanoes and earthquakes, others slow and 
gradual, acting through long or secular periods. Thus some 
shores of the Baltic are rising with a very minute yearly ele- 
vation. In volcanic regions the alterations of level are often 
sudden and conspicuous. The island of Molokai, one of the 
Hawaiian group, bears evidence of rapid local elevation ; well- 
dejSned coral being found on it at the height of 500 feet above 
the sea-level. A missionary reports a statement made by the 
natives of Kauai that a bed of coral or coral sand exists on one 
of the mountains there, 4,000 feet above the ocean. Beechey 
describes Henderson's Island as bearing unmistakeable symp- 
toms of having been raised. It is composed of dead coral, 
elevated eighty feet above the sea, and having perpendicular 
cliffs nearly all the way round it ' as if, after being formed in 
the ocean, it had been pushed up by a subterranean convul- 
sion.' It is now nearly encomj)assed by a reef of hving coral.* 
Maiden's island, mentioned in the earlier part of the text 
of this work, was examined by Captain Goddard during the 
year 1861. It indicates by seven distinct beaches or 
water-lines, six successive elevations since its first emergence 
from the ocean, the last upheaval being so recent that paths 
made from the higher platform where the remains of human 
dwellings appear, pass through six of the beaches on their way 
to the sea, and invariably terminate before reaching the seventh 
beach. 

* Narrative, vol. i p. 264. 



5-22 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

The following excerpted passages from Maury's ' Physical 
Geography of the Sea' will form a proper and interesting 
pendent to the chapter : 

I was delighted to find that all these deep soundings are filled 
with microscopic shells : not a particle of sand or gravel exists in them. 
They are chiefly made up of little calcareous shells {Foraminiferce), and 
contain also a small number of siliceous shells {Diatoviacece). 

' It is not probable that these animals lived at the depths where these 
shells are found, but I rather think that they inhabit the water near the 
surface ; and when they die, their shells settle to the bottom.' — (Letter 
from Professor Bailey, of West Point.) 

These shells were from the great telegraphic plateau, and the infer- 
ence is that there, if anywhere, the waters of the sea are at rest. There 
was not motion enough there to abrade these very dehcate organisms, &c. 

§ 271. 

It is now suggested that henceforward we should view the surface of 
the sea as a nursery teeming with nascent organisms, its depths as the 
cemetery for families of living creatures that outnumber the sands on 
the sea-shore for multitude. § 723. 

These oceans of animalculse that make the surface of the sea sparkle 
and glow with hfe, are secreting from its surface solid matter for the 
very purpose of filling up those cavities below. These little marine 
insects are building their habitations at the surface, and when they die, 
their remains, in vast multitudes, sink down and settle upon the bottom. 
They are the atoms of which mountains are formed and plains spread 
out. Our marl-beds, the clay in owe river-bottoms, large portions of 
many of the great basins of the earth, are composed of the remains of 
just such little creatures as these, which the ingenuity of Brooke and 
the industry of Berryman have enabled us to fish up from the depth of 
more than two miles (12,000 feet) below the sea-level. § 730. The 
diatoms from the coral sea were very few in number, and mostly frag- 
mentary. § 753. However, the specimens of sea-bottom from the 
ocean between Lon. 168 to 175 E. and Lat. 66-46 to 60-30 N. were 
very rich in the siliceous shells of the Diatomacese, which were in an 
admirable state of preservation, &c. § 758, note. 

The deep sea-soundings from the Pacific differ considerably from those 
of the Atlantic. The latter soundings were composed almost whoUy of 
calcareous shells of the Poraminiferse ; those from the coral sea contain 
very few Poraminiferse, and are of a siliceous rather than of a calcareous 
nature. § 754. (This seems a little discrepant.) 

As to the repose of the sea at great depths, the unabraded appear- 
ance of these shells, and the almost total absence of the mixture of any 



VITALITY IN THE OCEAN. 623 

detritus from the sea, or foreign matter, suggest forcibly the idea of 
perfect repose at the bottom of the deep sea. § 760, Indeed, these 
soundings suggest the idea that the sea, like the snow-cloud with its 
flakes in a calm, is always letting fall upon its bed showers of these 
microscopic shells. § 71. 

And as to the immensity of life, and the power of converting inorganic 
material, we have now had specimens from the bottom of the ' blue 
water ' in the narrow coral sea, the broad Pacific, and the long Atlantic, 
and they all tell the same story, namely, that the bed of the ocean is a 
vast cemetery. § 759. The ocean, especially within and near the tropics, 
swarms with life. The remains of its myriads of moving things are 
conveyed by currents, and scattered and lodged in the course of time all 
over its bottom. The process, continued for ages, has covered the depths 
of the ocean as with a mantle, consisting of organisms as delicate as 
the macled frost, and as light as the undrifted snow-flake on the moun- 
tain. § 761. The rivers convey to the sea this solid matter mixed with 
fresh water, which being lighter than that of the ocean, remains for a 
considerable time at or near the surface. Here the microscopic organisms 
of the deep sea lead are continually at work, secreting this same lime 
and soda, &c., and extracting from this sea-water all this solid matter 
as fast as the rivers bring and empty it into the sea. They live and 
die at the surface, then sinking, the bottom of the sea is strewed with 
them. § 738. The task of secreting the calcareous matter from the sea- 
water appears to have been left by these little mites of creatures to the 
madrepore and shell-fish, while these little mites themselves undertook 
the hard task of getting the siliceous matter out, § 757. 



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The Dog. By the same Author. Svo. with numerous Woodcuts, 6s. 

The DOG in HEALTH and DISEASE. By Stonehenge. With 70 
Wood Engravings. Square crown Svo. 10s. Qd. 



XEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY LONGMANS AND CO. 27 



The GREYHOUND. By Stonehenge. Revised Edition, with 24 
Portraits of Greyhounds. Square crown 8vo. 2l5. 

The OX ; his Diseases and their Treatment: with an Essay on Parturi- 
tion in the Cow. By J. R. Dobson. Crown 8vo. with Illustrations, 7s. 6d. 



Commerce, Navigation, and Mercantile Affairs. 

BANKING, CURRENCY, and the EXCHANGES ; a Practical Trea- 
tise. By Arthur Crump. Post 8vo. 6s. 

The ELEMENTS of BANKING. By Henry DunniIs-g Macleod, M.A. 

Barrister-at-Law. Post 8vo. [Nearly ready. 

The THEORY and PRACTICE of BANKING. By the same Author. 
Second Edition, entirely remodelled. 2 vols. 8vo. SOs. 

ELEMENTS of MARITIME INTERNATIONAL LAW. By William 
De Burgh, B.A. of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 8vo. 10s. Qd. 

PAPERS on MARITIME LEGISLATION ; with a Translation of the 
German Mercantile Law relating to Maritime Commerce. By Ernst Emil 
Wendt. 8vo. 10s. 6(i. 

PRACTICAL GUIDE for BRITISH SHIPMASTERS to UNITED 

States Ports. By Pierrepont Edwards. Post 8vo. 8s. 6(Z. 

A NAUTICAL DICTIONARY, defining the Technical Language re- 
lative to the Biiilding and Equipment of Sailing Vessels and Steamers, &c. 
By Arthur Young. Second Edition ; with Plates and 150 Woodcuts. 
Svo. 18s. 

A DICTIONARY, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Com- 
merce and Commercial Navigation. By J. R. M'Culloch, Esq. New and 
thoroughly revised Edition, in the press. 

A MANUAL for NAVAL CADETS. By J. M'Neil Boyd, late Cap- 
tain R.N. Third Edition; with 240 Woodcuts and 11 coloured Plates. 
Poist Svo. 12s. &d. 

The LAW of NATIONS Considered as Independent Political Com- 
munities. By Tr avers Twiss, D.C.L. Regius Professor of Civil Law in the 
University of Oxford. 2 vols. 8vo. 30s. or separately, Part I. Peace, 12*. 
Part II. War, I8s. 



Works of Utility and General Information. 

MODERN COOKERY for PRIVATE FAMILIES, reduced to a System 
of Easy Practice in a Series of carefully-tested Receipts. By Exiza Acton. 
Newly revised and enlarged Edition; with 8 Plates of Figures and 150 
Woodcuts. Fcp. 6s. 

On FOOD and its DIGESTION ; an Introduction to Dietetics. By 
W. Brintow, M.D. With 48 Woodcuts. Post Svo. 12s. 



f- 



28 NEW WORKS published by LONGMANS and CO. 

WINE, the VINE, and the CELLAH. By Thomas G. Shaw. Se- 
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HOW TO BREW GOOD BEER: a complete Guide to the Art of 
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By John Pitt. Revised Edition. Pep. 4s. Qd. 

A PRACTICAL TREATISE on BREWING ; with Forraulse for Public 
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SHORT WHIST. By Major A. Sixteenth Edition, revised, with an 
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WHIST, WHAT TO LEAD. By Cam. Fourth Edition. 32mo. Is. 

A HANDBOOK for READERS at the BRITISH MUSEUM. By 

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The EXECUTOR'S GUIDE. By J. C. Hudson. Enlarged Edition, 
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The CABINET LAWYER ; a Popular Digest of the Laws of England, 
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The PHILOSOPHY of HEALTH ; or, an Exposition of the Physio- 
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HINTS to MOTHERS on the MANAGEMENT of their HEALTH 
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INDEX. 



Acton's Modern Cookery 27 

Aixock's Residence in Japan ! 22 

Allies on Formation of Christendom!,'!*"* 20 

Alpine Guide (The) .' " 2' 

Alvbnslbbe v's Maximilian in Mexico* '! *!! 5 

Apjohn s Manual of the Metalloids . . 12 

Arnold s Manual of English Literature!!.! 7 

ARNOTTsElementsof Physics 1 1 

Arundines Cami .• 

Autumn holidays of a Country 'ParVon' 
Aybe 8 Treasury of Bible Knowledge.., 



25 

8 

19 



Bacon'b Essays, by Whatblt 5 

• Life and Letters, by Speddino .!!!!! 5 

Works g 

Bain on the Emotions and Wiii!!.'.'.'!! 9 

■ on the Senses and Intellect.!!'.'.'. 9 

;0n the Study of Character "* n 

^ALL s Alpine Guide 22 

Barnard s Drawing from NaViirft.".*.' .*.'.'." * * * ia 

CAVLDON s Rents and Tillages ' i« 

Beaten Tracks ..„:!!!!!! 22 

Becker's Charicles and Galiu's ".'.'. 23 

JbEETHovEN's Letters 4 

Bbnpey's Sanskrit Dictionary! a 

BiiriL^d^io°orcTtT.'''!?fy?!!'.°':'^°*="^"**-' 26 

Black's Treatise on Brewing 28 

BLACKi.Ey and Fribdlandbr's German and 

tnglish Dictionary « 

Blaine's Rural Sports !... ! 2^ 

Veterinary Art ! ! ! .>h 

Blight's Week at the Land's End' 2q 

Booth's Epigrams q 

Bourne on Screw Propeller .!!!! 17 

Bourne's Catechism of the Steam' Engi'iie" 

Handbook of Steam En"ine 

Treatise on the Steam Engine ! ' 

iSoWDLER S FaimlySBAKSPEARK 



17 
17. 

17 



Boyd's Manual for Naval Cadets! ! 27 

Bramley-Moore's Six Sisters of the' Valleys 23 
Brande s Dictionary of Science, Literature 

and Art ' ,„ 

Bray's tC.) Education of the Fe'elin<'"8" " in 

Philosophy of Necessity.". . !! " * in 

r onlorce jn 

Brinton on Food and Digestion!! 27 

Bkistow s Glossary of Mineralotnr ii 

Jrodie's (Sir C.B.-) Works ...!!!! 15 

Constitutional History! 2 

Srowne's Exposition 39 Articles...!!!! is 

iocKLR s History of Civilization . 

JuLL s Hints to Mothers 

Maternal Management'o'f' Children. 



2 
28 
28 



JoN««'s (Baron) Ancient Egypt .ZZ^l 3 



Bunsen's (Baron) God in History 3 

^ — Memoirs !.* 4 

iiuNSBiv(E.DE)on Apocrxpha.... ' * 20 

ir; — r-VTTT-!* Keys of St. Peter ...!...!,. 20 

Burkes Vicissitudes of Families 5 

IJurxon's Christian Church 3 

Cabinet Lawyer .... oa 

Calvert's Wife's Manual'!.*!*! 2I 

Cates s Biographical Dictionary '!!"'! 4 

Chll t"iFA,«"«'s Moral Emblems ! !! 16 

Chorale Book for England ik 

Christian Schools and Scholars"!!"!! in 

Clouohs Lives from Plutarch 2 

of^Josh^^ *'^ on Pentateuch and Book 
CoLLiNs's Hors'e'-'T'raine'r'V Guide ' ! ! la 

cSmftry ^'^^ Philosopher in Town and 

Coninoton's Chemical 'Aiiaiv'sis!!!! ]| 

KZTT. .^^'^'^I'^i?," of Virgi'l's ^«i/(Z 25 

Practical ditto !!!!'! o 

ofit^Fa^A^^. ^"^'"^'^ ^'fe andEpi^'ties 

Cook on the Acts.'^'!!!!!!! 

Copland's Dictionary of P'racti'c'al 'Medi'ciiie 
Coulthart's Decimal Interest Tables.. . . 28 
Counsel and Comfort from a City Pulpit . S 
Cox's Manual of Mythology ...... ^ 94 

m }^^ 5^ ^^'^ ^reat Persian W*a!r ! '.'.** 2 

I a es from Greek Mythology 94 

■ J^aes of the Gods and Heroes 24 

Tales of Thebes and Avgos . ... 24 

Cbesy s Encyclopedia of Civil Engineering 17 
Critical Es>iays of a Country Parson g 



18 
18 
15 



Crowe's History of France 



Ca 



uMp on Banking, Currency, & Ex'chaiiges 



•2 

27 



25 



Dart's Hiad of Homer 

D'Aobione's History of the Refomation ii 

the time of Calvin 9 

Davidson's In troduction to New Testament 19 

Dayman s Dante's Di vina Commedia .... 20 

Dead Shot (The), by Mar ESMAN ..?.!!! 26 

DeBubghs Maritime International Law ' 27 
Db la Rive s Treatise on Electricity .. '11 

DeMoroan on Matter and Spirit "* 9 

De Tocqoev.lle's Democracy in America!! 2 
Disraeli s Speeches on Parliamentary Re- 

DoBsoN on tiie Ox. .!!.".'!.' 97 

DovEonStorms !! " 7„ 

Dyer's City of Rome ....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 



30 



NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY LONGMANS and CO. 



Eastlake's Hints on Household Taste .... 17 

Edwards' Shipmaster's Guide 27 

Elements of Botany |3 

Eu-icott's Commentary on Ephesians .... 19 

Lectures on Life of Christ 19 

Commentary on Galatians ...... 19 

: Pastoral Epist... 19 

Philippians,&c.. 19 

Thessalonians... 19 

Enobl's Introduction to National Music .. 15 

Essays and Reviews ;.Vj 

on Relision and Literature, editea 

by Manning, First and Second Sekies.. 20 

Ewald's History of Israel 19 

Fairbairn on Iron Shipbuilding • 17 

FArRBAiRN's Application ot Cast and 

Wrought Iron to Building 17 

Information for Engineers... 17 

Treatise on Mills & Millwork 17 

Farrar's Chapters on Language 7 

Felkin on Hosiery and Lace Manufactures 17 

Ffoui-kes's Christendom's Divisions VO 

Fi-iEDNEK'sCPastor) Life 5 

Francis's Fishing Book 26 

(Sir P.") Memoir and Journal .... 4 

Friends in Council ■ 9 

Froude's Historvof England 1 

Short Studies on Great Subjects 8 



Ganot's Elementary Physics H 

Gilbert and Chdrchili.'s Dolomite Moun- 
tains 22 

Gill's Papal Drama .^.v.i-"--' 3 

Gilly's Shipwrecks of the Navy 22 

Goodeve's Elements of Mechanism * 17 

Gorlb's Questions on Browne's Exposition 

of the 39 Articles 18 

Grant's Ethics of Aristotle 6 

Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson .... 8 

Gray's Anatomy \* 

Greene's Corals and Sea Jellies 12 

Sponges and AnimalculsB 12 

Gro^e on Correlation of Physical Forces.. 11 

Gwilt's Encyclopasdia of Architecture .... 16 



Handbook of Angling, by Ephemera ..••'k.. 26 

Hare on Election of Representatives _ 6 

Harlky and Bhown's Histological Demon- 
strations 1^ 

Hartwiq's Harmonies of Nature 1'= 

Polar World 12 

Sea and its Living Wonders.... 12 

Tropical World 12 

Haughton's Manual of Geology H 

Hawker's Instructions to Young Sportsmen 26 

HBARN'sPlutolosy } 

on English Government 1 

Hblps's Spanish Conquest in America 2 

He vDER son's Folk-Lore of the Northern 

Counties ■•■•.• ••••••• ^^ 

Herschel's Essays from the Edinburgh 

and Quarterly Reviews .... 13 

Outlines of Astronomy 10 

Hewitt en Diseases of Women I'l 

Hodoson's Time and Space 9 

Holmes's System of Surgery • • K 

Hooker and Walkek-Arnott s British 

Flora {3 

Hopkins's Hawaii }' 

Horne's Introduction to the Scriptures 19 

Compendium of ditto 19 



Horsley's Manual of Poisons 1& 

HosKvNs's Occasional Essays ® 

How we Spent the Summer 22 

Howard's Gymnastic Exercises 1& 

Uowitt's Australian Discovery 22 

Rural Life of England 2S 

Visits to Remarkable Places 23 

Hudson's Executor's Guide 2& 

Hdohes's (W.) Manual of Geosraphy 10 

Uullah's Collection of Sacred Music 16 

Lectures on Modem Music 1& 

Transition Musical Lectures .... 1& 

Humphreys' Sentiments of Shakspeare .... 1& 

Hotton's Studies in Parliament 8 



In&elow's Poems 25 

StoryofDoom 2,> 



Jameson's Legends of the Saints and Mar- 

tyrs 1» 

— — _ll-lllLegenrisof the Madonna.. IS 

Legends of the Monastic Orders 16 

Jameson and Eastlake's History of Our 

Lord If^ 

Jenner's Holy Child .......... 25. 

Johnston's Gazetteer, or Geographical Dic- 
tionary , ''' 



Kaxisch's Commentary on the Bible 7 

Hebrew Grammar 7 

Keith on Fulfilment of Prophecy 18 

Destiny of the W-rld 1» 

Ke ler's Lake Dwellings of Switzerland.. 13 

Kesteven's Domestic Medicine 15 

KiRBY and Spence's Entomology ......r... 13 

Knight's Arch of Titus 23 



Lady's Tour Hound Monte Rosa ... 
Landon's (L. E L.l Poetical Works. 

Latham's English Dictionary 

River Plate 



Lawrenc on Rocks 

Lecky's History of Rationalism 

Le'sure Hours in Town 

Lessons of Middle Age * 

Lewes' History of Philosophy 

Letters of Distinguished Musicians 

LiDDKLL and Scott's Greek- English Lexicon 

Abridged ditto 

Life of Man Symbolised 

LiNDLEY and Moore's Treasury of Botany 
Longman's Lectures on the History of Eng- 
land 

Loudon's Agriculture 

Cottage.Farm.Vllla Architecture 



— Gardening. 

— Plants 

. Trees and Shrubs 



Lowndes's Engineer's Handbook 

Lyra Domesn'ca ••••••• 

Euch aristica » 

Germanica 16 

Messianica 

My stica 

Sacra 



22 

25 

7 

10 

11 

3 

8 

8 

S 

4 

7 

7 

16 

13 

2 
18 
18 
18 
13 
13 
17 
21 
21 
,21 
2l 
21 
21 



Macaulav's (Lord) Essays 3 

History of England n 

Lavs of Ancient Rome . 24 

Miscellaneous Writings 8 

Speeches 6 



NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY LONGMANS and CO. 



31 



Macaolay's (Lord) Works 1 

Macparre.v's I^ectures on HarrrioTiy 16 

jVIacleod's Rleinents of Political Economy 6 

Dictionary 1 f Political Economy 6 

Elemens of Baiikin ■ 27 

Theory and Practice of Banking 27 

McCullocb's IJictioiiary of Commerce 27 

Geosiraphical Dictionary 10 

Magdire's Irisli in America 23 

Lifeot Fatlicr Mathew 4 

Rome and its Rulers 4 

MALr.Eso.v's French in India 3 

MAN^I^o on HolyGhost 20 

's England and Cliristeiidom 20 

Marshall's Pnyfiolosy 14 

Marshuan's Life of Havelock 6 

Historyo' India 3 

Marti BAu's Endeavours after the Chris- 
tian Life 21 

Massey's History of England 2 

(<>.) ou Shakspeare's Sonnets 25 

Massinobrrd's History of the Reforination.. 4 

Madnder's Biographical Treasury 5 

Geosrraphical Tieusury 11 

• Historical Treasury 3 

Scientifieand Kiterary Treasury 13 

— ■ Treasury of Knowledge 28 

Treasury of Natural Hietory ,. 13 

Macry's Physical Geography 10 

May's Constitutional History of England.. 2 

Melville's Dighy Grand 24 

General Bounce 24 

• GladiatTS 24 

Good for Nothing 21 

-Holmhy House 24 

Interpreter 24 

KateCoventry 24 

r Queen's iMaries 24 

Mendblssohn's Letters 4 

Mkrivale'sCH.) Historical studies 2 

(C.) Fall of the Roman Republic 3 

— — Romans under the Fmpire 3 

Miles en Horse's tout and Horseshoeing... 26 

on Horses' Teeth and Stables 26 

Mill on Liberty g 

on Hepresentative Government.!.'!!! 6 

— J onUtilitarianism 6 

Mill's Dissert'itions and Discussions 6 

Political ^conl.my !!., g 

System of I/Ogic ! 6 

■ Hamilton's Philosophy !!!!!!! 6 

— St. Andrews' Inaugural AddresV'"!! 6 

Miller s Elements of Chemistry ... l4 

Mitchell's Manual of Assayino-.. '"" iq 

Monsell's Beatitudes !!!!!!!!! 21 

His Piesence-not his Memory!! 21 

— Spiritual Songs' 21 

MoxTooMERTon Pregnaucy 14 

Moore's Irish Melodies Aj 

Lalla Rookh i*. 

Poetical Works ij 



Dr. G.) First Man. 



24 

Morell's Elements of Psychoiogv o 

Mental Philosophy . q 

MosHErM's Ecclesiastical History ..! 9? 

Mozart's Letters -^j 

MdLLEii's (Max) Chips frorri" a "German 

Workshop g 

-Lecturfg on theScience'of 



Language j 

^^G?'^ Literature of AncYent 

MoHcmsoj. on Continued Fevers!! 14 

Mure s Language and Literature of oVeeM 2 

New Testament, illustrated with Wood En- 

gravmes from the Old Masters.!. .. is 

Kew^ak's History of his Religious OpiiioM 4 



Nicholas's Pedigree of the English People 9 

Nichols' Handbook to the Biitish Museum 28 

NioHTTMOAi.p's Notes on Hospitals 28 

Nilsson's Scandiuavia 12 



Odlino's Animal Chemistry 14 

— Course of Practical Chemistry . ! . . 14 

—: Manual of Chemistry 14 

Origmal Designs for Wood Carving I7 

Owen's Lectures ou the Invertebrate' Ani- 
mals 12 

Comparative AnatomV'a'nd Phv'sio- 

logy of Vertebrate Animals ...... 12 

OxENBAM on Atonement 20 



Packe's Guide to the Pyrenees 22 

Paoft's I.ei^tures on Surgical Pathology .. 14 

Prreira's Manual of Materia Medica 22 

Perkins's Tuscan :*euUitors 15 

Phillips's Guide to Geology 17 

Pictures in Tyrol 22 

Piesse's Art of Perfumery ..'.'.','. 18 

Chemical, Natural, and Physical 

Magic ig 

Pike's English and their Origin ! 9 

Pitt on Brewing 28 

Playtime with the Poets !!.!!!!! 25 

Pratt's Law of Building Societies !! 28 

Prescott's Scripture Difficulties 19 

Proctor's Saturn ... \q 

Handbook of the Stars le 

Pycroft's Course of English Reading 7 

CricketField 26 



Raikes 8 Englishman in India 23 

Keade's Poetical Works 25 

Recreations of a Country Parson !!!! g 

Reily's Mapcf Mont Blanc 22 

KivERs's Rose Amateur's (Juide !! 13 

RoGEKs'> Correspondence of^ Oreyson ...!!! 9 

Eclipse of Faith !!!!!! 9 

■ Defence of fiitto 9 

'Essaysfrom the RrJinbvrgh Review 9 

Reason and Faith 9 

Rooet's TJiesaurusof English Words and 

Phrases 7 

RoNALDs's Fly-Fisher's Entorrioiogy !!!!!!! 26 

Rowton's Debater y 

Ro dd's Aristopha nes !!!!!!!!!!!!! 26 

Rossell on Government and ConstiVut'i'on! ! 1 



Sandars's Justinian's Institutes 5 

Schubert's Life trnnsluted by Coleridob!! 5 

Scott s Lectures on the Fine Arts . . 1^ 

Seebohm s ox'ord Reformers of I4i;8 2 



StwELL's After Life 

Amy Herbert 

-Cleve Hall 



23 
23 
23 



Earl's Daughter !.*!*! 23 

Examination for Confirmation!!! 20 

Experience of Life 9? 

Gertrude fo 

Glimpse of the World.! 23 

History ofthe Early Church!!""'" 5 

-Ivors 



Early Church 3 



n^ 

-Journal of a Home Life m 

-Katharine A.'hton !"! jS 

-Laneton Parsonage. . 93 

-Margaret P.- icival ...*.! ^ 

-Passing Thoughts on Relig'ion!!!! 20 

-Preparation for Communion.. 20 

-Principles ot Education ! ' 20 



32 



NEW W0BK8 PUBLISHED by LONGMANS a^b CO. 



Seweil s Eeadmgs for Confirmation 20 

Keadintrs for Lent vo 

— ■ Tales andStories iiliJ^iJ 23 

Ursula " "* j'g 

Shaw's Work on Wine '.'.'.'." 28 

Shephekd's Iceland ',\ g^) 

SHiri,nY's Church and the World*'.*.".'.','.'*.*.* 19 

~ — Tracts for the Day '.'..*.!*. 20 

Short Whist 28 

Shokt's Church History !!!!!!!!!!!!,'."!.* 3 

Smith's (SouTHwooD I Philosophy 'of 'Heo'itli 28 

li-l?**^."^'^ Voyage and Shipwreck. . 1 8 

(Or.) King David 19 

— Wesleyan Methodism ....'. 4 

(Sydney) Miscellaneous Works .... 8 

J^Ioral Philosophy 8 

r — Wit and Wisdom [ 9 

hMiTH on Cavalry Drill and Manoeuvres 2k 

Southey's (Doctor) '* » 

Poetical Works .'.'.i 94 

Springdale Abbey 93 

Stance y 's History of British B'iVd's' *.".'.' 72 

hTEBBjNo's Analysis of Mii,i,'s Logic '" 6 
Stephens Essays in Ecclesiastical "Bio- 
graphy 5 

p- Lectures on History of France. . 2 

Stirling's Secret of Hegel.... .. q 

Stonehenge on the Dog . . . or 

5 ^ ~z on the Greyhound 27 

Sunday Afternoons at the Parish Church of 

a Scottish University City (Aberdeen). . . . g 



Tatiors (Jeremy) Works, edited by Eden 21 

(E.) .Selections from some Contem- 

porary Poets . o^ 

Tennent's Cevlon " ,'i 

Wild Elephant.. ■.'.':.*;;:: n 

TfliRLwAXL's History of Greece . . '> 

IHOMSON s (Archbishop) Laws of Th'ou'<r"ht C 

7^ TTT- .(A- .''^'•■"Conspectus T... ^b 

l.MBs s Curiosities of London . ^-i 
loDD (A.) on Parliamentary Govern'ment!.' 1 
loDDs Cj-clopadia of Anatomy and Phy- 
siology *' y^ 

and Bowman's Anatom'y'aVid 'Phv- 

siolpgyofMan ; it 

J. ROILOPE s Barchester Towers " ^R 

~ ; Warden ', o'. 

Iwiss sLawof Kations *,' 07 



Tyndall's Lectures on Heat , j 

Memoir of Ear ADA Y.... s 



^^dMiifir*"^ °* ^^^' Manufactures, 



17 



Van Der Hoeven's Handbook of Zoology 11 
Vauohan's (K.) Revolutions in Englis'li 

History » 

Way to Rest !.!!'.!!!!.*! 18 



Walker on the Rifle 

Ward's Workmen and Wages ..'.'. 

Watson s Principles and Practice of 'Phy'sic 

Watts's Dictionary of Chemistry 

Webb s Objects for Common Telescopes. . . . 

We! D'f ^lorSc^r.".':".*. ."^'^'^ ^'^^**"^°* 
Wellington's Lijfe, by t'h'e"ii^v"G!"jR*. 

IxLEIO 

Weils on bew.;.:::::::::::::::::-: 

Wfndt's Papers on Maritime Law.'!.!"!"* 

West on Children's Diseases ' 

Whately's English Synonymes !!!*!! 

Logic \\ 

-Rhetoric !!!!,* 

■rr. Life and Correspondence !!!!!! 

WHATELvon the Truth of Christianity.... 

• ,. ■ ^ — -, Religious Worship 

Whist, what to lead, by Cam..,:. 

White and Riddle's Latin-English "Dic- 
tionaries 

Winslow on Lisht,... !!!!!!!!!!!!"!**** 

W<iod's Bible Animals ..'.......'.'.'.!*.!!'** 

TTr Homes without Hands!.!!!!!!!!! 

Wright's Homer's Iliad 



28 
6 
U 
13 
10 
19 
22 

4 

n. 

2sr, 

14 
5 
S 

5 

4 . 
21 
21 
28 

7 

n 
12 

12 

25 



Yonge's English-Greek Lexicon r 

Abridged ditto ! y 

— Horace 25 

YooNo's Nautical Dictionary . . . ""27 

YoDATTon theDog 26 

■ -oathe Horse !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 26 



I/OWDOK: tEINTED BY 

EPOTTISWOOBE AND CO.. NEW-STREET SQXTABE 

AND PAELIAJiEKT STHEET 



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